the wolf of Fairy Tail
by you are my love
Summary: hey people, some of you might know the story called The S-class Mage off you don t, Read the story first. this story is re-written of the that story but i have changed it a bit with my idas. Sorry A Lot Again, People.
1. The Girl, The Boy And The Cat

I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

Natsu frowned. "Hargeon, you say? Rumors of a man calling himself Salamander?"

The older man nodded. "That's right. I thought you'd be interested, so I'm passing on what I heard."

Natsu grinned. "Thanks, man! Hey, Gramps, I'm headed to Hargeon port to check something out!"

Makarov nodded. "Alright. Good luck and take care, my boy."

Natsu waved at everyone before sprinting out of the guild, Happy flying right behind him.

"Master?" Levy asked worriedly. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"Eh?" Makarov scratched his head. "Forgot about what?"

"About her!" Levy hissed. "She's coming back from her hunt, remember? She's bound to be at Hargeon right now! If those two meet, then..."

Makarov paled. "Damn, I did forget. Well... it was nice knowing the city."

* * *

"Excuse me, sir?" A train worker leaned over Natsu, concerned. "The train has arrived at Hargeon. Are you alright? Is this your stop?"

Natsu groaned weakly. "I'm never riding a train again. Ever!"

"Don't worry!" The blue cat assured the man. "It's normal for Natsu to be sick on transportation."

"Natsu, come on!" Happy urged. "Salamander should be in this town!"

"Just... let me rest for a while..." Natsu muttered weakly. Happy hopped out the window and looked up at him. "Aye!"

The Exceed sweatdropped when the train started moving again, with Natsu still trapped on it. "It departed already."

"What a dump." The girl scowled. "This place hasn't changed at all. They still only have one magic shop." Sighing, she walked inside.

The old shopkeeper looked up when his customer entered. The girl had red knee long hair, a red and black Lolita dress, short on front and long on back, black shoes but she had a cape on in red so you can´t see her clothes . "Oi, old geezer." She greeted the man. "You got any cool stuff in here?"

The man frowned, but began to look around. "I did get some new stuff recently, but not many people in Hargeon use magic, so I mostly have things for traveling mages."

"Do you have any gate keys?" Lucy asked him. "Preferably strong ones?"

The man brightened. "I have the white dog key, but it's not very strong."

Lucy shrugged. "It's ok, I'll take it. How much?"

"20000 jewels."

The girl leaned forward. "Excuse me?"

"I said it's 20000 jewels."

Lucy reached for the zipper of her cape. "I wonder how much it really is..." She purred.

* * *

"Woohoo!" Lucy cheered. "A 50% discount! I'm a genius! A sexy one too!"

Lucy snapped out of her reverie when she noticed a multitude of girls running somewhere. "What the hell's going on?"

"You!" She grabbed a random girl and swung her around to face her. "Tell me what's going on. Now!"

"Salamander-sama is in town!" The giddy girl squealed, not even noticing how she was treated. "Hurry or you'll miss him!"

Lucy frowned and let the girl go. "Salamander?" She rubbed the guild mark under her glove unconsciously. "Why would he be here?"

"He seems popular." Lucy observed as she watched girls flock towards one spot. "Didn't think the guy was such a showoff."

"Move." The girl muttered, shoving past the crowd. "Get lost. You too. Out of my way." She pushed past the last two women and looked at Salamander.

"Huh." She frowned. "I know I never met him in person due to annoying coincidence and bad mission timing, but he doesn't look anything like he does in Reedus' pictures. Must be a fake using the name."

"This joker isn't worth my time." She muttered. "You'd have to be an idiot to fall for that Charm spell he's throwing around. Guess that explains why so many weak fan girls are here."

"Igneel!" Someone shouted, catching her attention. "Igneel!"

Lucy looked back towards the scene and watched a pink-haired boy frown at the fake Salamander. "Who are you?" She heard.

_Dick move, kid._ She winced as she watched the horde of women stomp the boy flat.

"Now, now." The pretender soothed. "I'm sure he didn't mean to insult me." He scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Natsu. "Here, you can have my autograph."

"I don't want it." The boy pouted, before the beating recommenced.

"He doesn't understand women at all, does he?" Lucy asked herself. "Salamander Natsu. Tch... idiot."

"I appreciate the attention, ladies." The fake smiled charmingly once Natsu was sent flying. "But I have some errands to run, so please excuse me." He leapt on a wisp of purple flame and soared away. "We're having a party on my ship tonight!" He shouted, fading away. "So please come!"

"What was up with that guy?' Natsu grumbled as he watched him fly away.

"Isn't it obvious?" A voice from behind asked him. "He likes the attention."

Natsu eyed the sword at the girl's belt nervously. "And who are you?"

"I'm Lucy." The girl smirked, reaching out a hand to help Natsu up. "I heard you're looking for Salamander. Tell me more about him."

"Sorry." Natsu stood up. "I have to ask that guy a few things." A hand suddenly grabbed him and spun him towards her.

"I wasn't asking."

* * *

"You're surprisingly nice. Scary, but nice." Natsu choked in between bites of food.

Lucy leaned back. "Yeah, I saved 10000 jewels today, so I'm feeling generous. Don't get used to it."

"Aye!" Happy mumbled around his fish.

Lucy sweatdropped as food kept flying everywhere. "So, you two are Natsu and Happy, right? I'm a mage too, you know."

Natsu eyed her suspiciously. "How'd you know we're mages?"

Lucy scowled. "I know you're the real Salamander. Why else would you run around a port city shouting the name of a dragon who vanished several years ago?"

Natsu shot up. "Ok, talk. Who exactly are you and how do you know about Igneel?"

"Sit down." Lucy sneered. "I'm a mage. Word gets around about those of us who are really powerful."

Natsu grinned at that. "So I'm really powerful, huh?"

"No." Lucy deadpanned. "You're just famous because you destroy a ton of crap every time you do something."

Natsu ignored that. "So what magic do you use, then?"

Lucy held up her key-ring. "I summon Celestial Spirits." She said simply.

Natsu's eyes widened and he turned to Happy. "Hey, Happy! Isn't there a Spirit Mage in the guild? She's been gone for a long time and I never actually met her, but she's an S-Class mage! Man, I want to fight her!"

_She's sitting in front of you._ Lucy thought, smirking. _And you'd lose._

"I guess I'll be going." Lucy stood up and put a few bills. "You guys can go ahead and eat your fill."

Every head snapped to Natsu and Happy as they knelt in front of Lucy, bowing and thanking her for the food as tears ran down their cheeks.

"Idiots!" The blond yelled, sending them into a wall with a kick. "Stop making a scene!"

* * *

"So my guild's been causing trouble again, huh?" Lucy mused as she reclined on a park bench, studying a copy of Sorcerer Weekly. "Sheesh. The flame-brain destroyed the Devon Thief family and seven houses belonging to townsfolk along with it."

Lucy flipped the page over. "Oh, Mira's posing again. I haven't seen her in so long now. It's been two whole years since I last visited the guild, not like I hung out there much though. My whole time there was mission, mission, short break, mission, S-class mage trials, mission, S-class mission, S-class mission, and two-year hunt. I spent a grand total of 11 days with my peers, it'll be interesting to see if they still remember me. Judging by what that Natsu kid said earlier, they do remember."

Lucy gave a large smile. "There's no denying it, Fairy Tail is the best!" She exclaimed.

"I see." The fake Salamander popped out of the bush behind her bench. "So you want to join Fairy Tail."

"Huh?"

"I've been looking for you, you know." The man continued. "I really wanted to invite a beautiful lady such as yourself to my party."

Lucy scowled. "Get lost, weirdo."

"Wait up!" The poser shouted as he ran after her. "I can get you into Fairy Tail!"

_There's something weird about how insistent he is._ Lucy frowned. _Maybe I should see this thing through, just in case he's really up to something._

"Fine." Lucy sighed. "I'll come."

"Great!" The man grinned. "Just come to my ship this evening and I'll get you in Fairy Tail for sure!"

Lucy sighed again as the guy flew off on his weird fire. _Idiot._

* * *

"So your name's Lucy, huh?" The man smiled. "That's a very nice name. It suits you."

Lucy gave a bored nod, sprawled out on a sofa and reading her magazine.

"You don't act like most girls I've met." The pseudo-Salamander observed. "You're very... different."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Lucy scoffed. "Who'd want to be compared to those weak-minded gullible fools anyway?"

The man chuckled and poured her a glass of wine. "Here you go, a festive drink for a festive party."

"Sure." Lucy grunted, taking the glass and throwing it over her shoulder without even glancing at it. "I'll have another glass, without a sleeping drug this time. That okay with you?"

"I'm impressed." The poser raised an eyebrow. "You seem both very skilled at magic and extremely confident."

"I can smell the bad body odor of your grunts hiding behind the curtains." Lucy gave a small yawn. "Why not tell them to come out, eh?"

The host snapped his fingers. "You heard the lady. Come out!"

"Excellent." Lucy noted, springing up from the sofa and grabbing one thug, throwing him into two others and knocking all three out. "Now this party can really begin!"

"You are a mage, aren't you?" The man asked casually, hidden behind his small army of grunts. "Yes, I can see your keys. That makes you a Stellar Spirit mage. You really think you can beat my men without summoning anything?"

Lucy shrugged. "You asked for it." She held up a golden key. "Open, Gate of the Scorpion. Scorpio!"

"We are, yeah!" A tanned man with a large tail appeared, cheering. "What's up?"

"Get rid of these guys." Lucy told him, pointing at the thugs.

"We are!" Scorpio grinned and sent a blast of sand at them. "Sand Buster!"

Scorpio sighed as he looked the sand-covered weakly groaning bodies. "That's it? Did someone trick you into taking a low-level mission or something, Luce?"

"Nope!" Lucy grinned. "This is just a typical evening for me. These guys wanted to see a Spirit, so... I summoned you."

"Yeah!" Scorpio chuckled. "See ya, Luce!" He shouted, disappearing back to the Spirit World.

"Guess it's my turn." The leader observed, holding up a branding iron. Before he could act, however, Natsu crashed through the ceiling.

Lucy stared. "What in the...?" Taking advantage of the distraction, a still conscious thug yanked her keys out of her hand and threw them out into the sea.

"You idiot!" Lucy screamed, tossing the same man at Natsu, who was rapidly turning green from motion sickness. "I had this covered! What are you doing here?"

"Never mind." She snapped before he could answer. "Just deal with this guy, I'll go get my keys back." Before the fake Salamander could react, she ran up to the railing and jumped over it into the water.

"Let's see." Lucy put a finger to her mouth, pretending to think. "Water + ship + idiot who can't handle moving + big wave = lots of fun! And I have just the Spirit for it too!" Lucy plunged the tip of a key into the water. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer. Aquarius!"

A mermaid-ish woman appeared next to Lucy, carrying a vase filled with water.

"Tch." The spirit scoffed. "You again?"

"You don't have any other summoners!" Lucy shouted at Aquarius.

"A fact that pains me to this very day." The woman sighed dramatically. "What do you want?"

"Don't take that tone with me, you wet fish!"

"What are you gonna do about it, you juvenile tramp?"

"PMS-ing bitch!"

"Cheap whore!"

"Freak cosplayer!"

"Flat chest!"

Lucy grinned. "Ah, I missed this."

"Indeed." Aquarius gave a similar grin. "You should summon me more often, I have a whole notebook full of creative insults. Seriously though, what do you need this time?"

Lucy pointed at the ship. "Just blast that back to shore."

The woman nodded and prepared her vase. "Damage limit?"

"Mediocre condition, none dead, no flooding the city streets."

"Ok."

Aquarius swung her vase and a huge whirlpool formed under the ship, swirling it around and around until the churning suddenly ended and the ship was sent hurling to the shore with a large wave bearing down on it.

"Did I mention I have a friend prone to motion sickness on that ship?" Lucy asked innocently.

Aquarius burst out laughing. "That's just cruel, Lu." She smiled. "We'll, I'm done here. Don't call on me for the next week, I'll be going on vacation with my boyfriend. You know, you should do the same!"

"Got that, arrogant slut!"

Aquarius laughed again. "Take care, Luce." She told the girl as she disappeared.

* * *

"Ah, the rocking stopped." Natsu straightened up. "You. Are you a mage of Fairy Tail?"

_Standing in the doorway,_ Lucy sighed. "Idiot, getting all riled up like that over one crook." She muttered.

The faker sneered. "And if I am, then what?"

Natsu scowled and threw a random thug at the man. "I'm Natsu of Fairy Tail, and I have never seen your face before!"

"That mark." A badly beat-up grunt wheezed, staring at Natsu's bare shoulder. "He's the real deal, Bora-san."

"Don't call me that, you idiot!"

"Bora of Prominence." Lucy muttered. "He got kicked out of the Titan Nose guild because he used magic to steal."

"Aye." Happy agreed, floating next to her head.

"Huh." Lucy mused, staring at the blue cat. "You can fly. Somehow, that isn't the weirdest thing I've seen."

"Aye!"

"I don't care if you're a bastard or a damn hero." Natsu growled. "I won't forgive you for using our name!"

"Shut up, brat." Bora sneered and blasted Natsu with purple fire. "Heh, that showed him."

"That's just awful." Natsu announced as the flames were somehow sucked into his open mouth. "I've never eaten such disgusting flames before. Are you really a fire mage?"

"This still isn't the weirdest thing I've ever seen." Lucy commented.

"You've seen a lot of things, haven't you?" Happy asked. "What's the weirdest thing you've seen, Lucy?"

"My own boobs on another body."

Happy sweatdropped and turned back to Natsu.

"Aah." The pink-haired boy wiped his mouth. "That hit the spot."

"What the hell?" Bora shouted in fear. "He just ate fire!"

"Fire won't work on Natsu." Happy commented.

"Now that I've eaten, I'm all fired up!" Natsu yelled, before putting his fists in front of his face and taking a deep breath.

"Bora-san, I've seen him before!" One of the thugs shouted. "That pink hair and the scaly-looking scarf... he's the real Salamander!"

Natsu roared as he blew out a gust of flame all over the battlefield, before jumping through it with a flaming fist and nailing Bora right in the face. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Bora screamed in pain as he shot through several walls, bringing down an entire row of buildings.

"Natsu learned this from Igneel." Happy explained. "It's Dragon Slayer magic!"

"Interesting." Lucy remarked as Natsu spewed out more flames for some reason. "He took down half the city. This will be fun to explain."

"Aye!"

A contingent of soldiers rushed into the city. "What is the meaning of this?" The commander yelled at them.

"Crap!" Lucy shouted, grabbing Natsu by his scarf and pulling him away from a thoroughly singed Bora. "We gotta go!"

"I heard you wanted to join Fairy Tail!" Natsu shouted, as he flapped along in the breeze behind her. "I'll talk to the Master for you!"

"Aye!"

Lucy face-palmed. "Not this again."

* * *

AN: Yep, Lucy has Angel's keys. That means Aries, Scorpio, Gemini, and Caelum. For the sake of the Oracion Seis arc, Angel will still show up, but her keys will be different.


	2. home again and saving Macao

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters!

* * *

"I forgot how big this place is." Lucy muttered to herself, staring up at the Fairy Tail building.

Natsu grinned, throwing the giant door open. "Welcome to Fairy Tail." He looked behind him in surprise. "Where'd she go?"

Happy pointed to the middle of the hall.

"Hey everyone! I'm back!" Lucy shouted and every gaze snapped to her before chaos erupted.

"Lu-chan!" A female voice shouted and Mira crashed into the red head girl, hugging the life out of her. "Welcome home!"

Natsu blinked and walked up to her. "What's going on? I thought you wanted to join this guild."

Everyone stared at him for a moment before the gathered mages burst into laughter.

"Natsu, you idiot." Gray chuckled, walking up to the Dragon Slayer. "Why would she join our guild if she's been a member for six years already?"

"But... I thought..." Happy was at a loss for words.

"Remember that S-class Celestial Mage you were telling me about?" Lucy smirked. "That's me."

"Never mind that!" Mira squealed. "You have to tell us how your key hunt went!"

Lucy looked around the eager faces and nodded in agreement. "Alright. Shortly after I left, I heard about a member of a Dark guild who was rumored to have three of the golden keys. I found her quickly, but she caught on to me and it took almost two years to finally corner her when she let her guard down." Lucy held up three golden keys and a silver one. "The silver key I wasn't expecting, but it'll come in handy as well. I'll be keeping it a surprise until Erza comes back. Anyway, let me introduce you to the three Zodiac spirits."

Lucy raised the three keys. "Open, Gate of the Ram, Scorpion, and Twins. Aries, Scorpio, Gemini!"

A cute girl with pink hair, horns, and covered in wool appeared and instantly attempted to shrink in on herself, blushing in embarrassment as everyone's attention focused on her.

Unnoticed by anyone, Loke started hyperventilating.

"We are!" In direct contrast to Aries, the tanned man raised both hands and his tail high into the air and laughed. "Yeah!"

The third spirit was the most interesting. A pair of little blue alien-like twins floated in mid-air, before light enveloped them and they turned into a perfect replica of Lucy.

"So that's what you meant when you said that the weirdest thing you've ever seen was your boobs on another body." Happy realized, breaking the awed silence.

Amid the raucous laughter, Lucy nodded. "Exactly."

They seem content, Loke observed happily, watching Aries talking with Mirajane, Scorpio entertaining several guild members by shooting small blasts of sand at random targets, and

Gemini transforming from one guild member to another. _I'm glad Lucy's not like Karen._

* * *

A woman at the bar sighed. "Gray, clothes."

Gray looked down and freaked. "Shit! Not this again!"

Cana scowled, turning back to her barrel of booze. "Tch." She scoffed. "Another one of those uncouth guys that I hate."

Lucy chuckled. "Gray, Cana, you two haven't changed at all."

"Fight me!" Natsu shouted at both Lucy and Gray.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "He's kidding, right?"

"Nope."

Lucy turned back to the bar. "Hit me, Mira."

The white-haired woman smiled as she poured Lucy a keg of beer. "So other than the key hunt, how's life been treating you?

"Can't complain." Lucy told her friend. "I actually ran into another girl who had two other golden keys, but she was really nice and treated them kindly. I didn't see any reason to take them from her."

"That's nice." Mira nodded.

"By the way, I have something for you." Lucy reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny locket on a white chain. "I had this commissioned right after I left."

Mira took the locket and opened it gently. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at a photo of herself and her two siblings, all three smiling at the camera." I thought you'd want this." Lucy explained in a soft voice.

Mira choked back a sob and smiled. "Thank you. For coming to the funeral, for paying for it, for this locket... I... no, we... owe you so much."

Lucy hugged the other girl. "I'm not completely heartless, you know. I miss her too."

"It really meant a lot to us, though." Mira told the girl, back to her cheerful self again. "You were on an S-class mission, and as soon as you heard about what happened, you

stormed the Dark wizard hideout with all the spirits you had then and beat everyone up in one day! Then it only took you another day to travel halfway across the country to make it back here in time. You really need to stop being so reckless."

Lucy thought back to the day she put PMS-ing teenage girls to shame. "But then I wouldn't be me!"

Gray's underwear collided with Lucy's back. Mira took an involuntary step back as the red head girl lifted up the offending item and sent a death glare at the brawlers. "Ok, who threw that?"

The fighters all froze in fear, before several fingers slowly rose and pointed at Natsu.

Natsu burst out laughing. "Hah! You're all so scared of her that you'd give up? That means I wi-"

A huge foot stepped on him. "Quiet, boy!" The giant boomed.

Lucy waved up at him. "Hi, Master! I'm back!"

The monstrous figure shrank until it became a little old man. "Welcome home, my child. I heard you've been quite successful."

Seeing Lucy nod, the man took a leap backwards to the second floor. He mistimed it, however, and ended up smashing into the wooden railing. He quickly righted himself and stood on it, groaning in pain.

"Listen up!" He shouted, rubbing his back. "You idiots have done it again! Look at all the complaints I got from the Council!" He waved a bunch of papers at the gathered guild members. "Gray, you took care of the smugglers, but then you walked naked through the town, and got noticed stealing underwear that was being dried." Gray scowled.

"Elfman! You had a simple job to escort a VIP and you ended up assaulting him."

The large man frowned. "He kept saying that real men are all about education, so..."

The Master sighed. "Cana Alberona. You drank fifteen barrels of alcohol and charged the bill to the Council."

"They found out." Cana slumped.

"Loke." Makarov continued. "Flirting with the grand-daughter of a council member. Not to mention damage compensation to a talent agency."

Makarov's gaze shifted to Natsu. "And then there's Natsu. You destroyed the Devon thief family, but you also destroyed seven other houses belonging to townsfolk, burned or damaged several historically important places, and eradicated half of Hargeon's port."

"The Council members are angry at me again." Makarov frowned. "However... to hell with them!" He exclaimed, burning the papers in his hand. "In my opinion, pouring your heart and soul into everything you do is what magic really is. If you constantly hesitate because of the Council monitoring you, your magic won't improve. So do not be afraid to piss off the Council! Do what you think is right! That's what being a mage of Fairy Tail means!"

Everyone burst into cheers. Lucy smiled and leaned back on her bar stool. "Ah, I missed this!"

Mira laughed. "So, are you going back to the unbreakable workaholic streak of mission after mission?"

"I'll go on a short one now." Lucy muttered thoughtfully. "But all that running around means that I don't know people here all that well. I'll be spending a lot more time here so that I can get to know them, that's for sure."

Mira slammed her head against the bar at Lucy's next question. "I forget, where's the request board?"

A hand rose and pointed towards the board in question. Lucy noticed that Natsu was standing in front of it already, so she made her way over to him.

"I'm thinking of taking you on some mission with me." She told him.

Natsu grunted. "Good for you, Luigi."

Nab groaned, already sensing what was coming. Sure enough, Lucy had knocked Natsu's head into the wall, causing several large cracks to appear. "The name's Lucy!"

"Please don't kill me, I'm sorry!" Natsu stammered out, before turning back to the job offers. "Hey, this looks interesting. 160 thousand jewels for taking out a group of thieves. What say you, Happy?"

"Aye!" The blue cat smiled.

"Sounds rather easy." Lucy commented. "I guess I can relax for a while."

"Is my dad back yet?" A small boy asked Makarov, causing Natsu and Lucy to snap their attention to him.

Makarov sighed. "You're annoying, Romeo. Your father is a mage, so trust him and wait for him patiently until he comes home."

"But... he said he'd be back in three days... and it's been over a week already... and he didn't go that far! Please send someone to look for him, I'm getting worried!"

"No way!" Makarov shouted. "Your dad is a mage! We have no mages in Fairy Tail who can't take care of themselves. Now go home and drink your milk or something!"

Romeo glared at the Master furiously. "Idiot!" He yelled, punching the old man in the face before running off.

A loud crack reverberated around the guild hall when Natsu slammed the thief job request through the request board.

"Master." Nab groaned. "Natsu's going to do something stupid again!"

Makarov watched as both Natsu and Lucy stormed out of the guild. "Those idiots... They're just going to hurt Macao's pride if they go help him. But, it's not up to us to tell them what to do, so leave them be."

"I kinda get where they're coming from, though." Mira told Makarov sadly "Natsu's father left him and Natsu doesn't want that to happen to anyone else, while Lucy's father has never been there for her so she's determined to keep Romeo from going through the same pain."

* * *

Romeo looked up in shock when two determined mages passed him, then his face brightened when both turned and gave him identical reassuring smiles.

* * *

"You should know, Master..." Mira whispered. "We... all the mages here in Fairy Tail... we are all carrying some pain, wounds, or suffering... every one of us has been hurt in some

way..." She touched the locket around her neck. "Even I..."

* * *

"Now that's just pathetic." Lucy remarked as she watched Natsu pant weakly on his carriage seat.

"Why are you tagging along, Lucy?" Happy asked curiously.

Lucy huffed and turned to look out the window. "None of your business, cat." "I bet you just want to raise your reputation." Happy teased.

"To what?" Lucy asked him. "There's not much left after attaining S-class."

Happy frowned. "I forgot about that."

"I wonder how my apartment is holding up. I paid rent in advance and everything, but it's been empty for two years. Damn, there's going to be dust everywhere!" Lucy grumbled.

Natsu shot up as soon as the cart stopped. "We're here!"

"I'm sorry." The driver told them. "This is as far as I can take you."

"This sucks..." Lucy announced to Natsu and Happy as they pushed forward, squinting against the heavy blizzard.

"Macao was here to fight a Vulcan, right." The girl stated. "I thought he was tougher than that..."

"Macao, are you out there?" Natsu yelled. "Did the Vulcan beat you up?"

A large white monkey leapt down and landed in front of them. "Finally, something's happening." Lucy said.

"Time to kick some butt." Natsu commented.

"Aye!"

The large beast leapt past Natsu and Happy and landed right in front of the girl. "A human woman!" It shouted in glee, staring inside at Lucy. A foot caught the monster's face, sending it flying.

"So it can speak, huh?" Natsu grunted as Lucy stepped beside off Natsu and Happy.

"I want the human woman!" The monkey screamed, leaping back at them. A fire punch from Natsu sent it through a wall and into an ice cave.

"Me and Gray would feel right at home here." Lucy smirked as they went in after it.

"You, monkey! Where is Macao?" Natsu rushed in and slipped on the icy floor, sliding across the entire cave.

"Why is he such an idiot?" Lucy asked herself, feeling a headache forming.

"You understand speech, right?" Natsu stood up like nothing happened. "I'm looking for Macao, a human man."

The Vulcan titled it's head. "A man?" It grinned evilly, before lumbering over to a hole in the wall and pointing to it.

Natsu peered out. "I don't see any-" The monkey laughed as it pushed him down into the ravine.

"I like your style." Lucy told the beast, holding up a golden key. "But I have to beat the crap out of you now. Open, Gate of the Golden Bull. Taurus!"

A large bull appeared in a burst of light, holding a large twin-bladed axe at the ready. "Hello, my Nice Body!"

"Shut up and fight that thing, you pervert!"

"Yes, my Nice Body!"

Lucy just sighed. "Why me, dammit..."

"Rampage!" Taurus shouted, slamming the axe into the ice and causing it to split, with the crack headed straight towards the Vulcan. Natsu chose that moment to jump in. "How dare

you... wait, are there more monsters now?" He leapt towards Taurus with a flying kick.

Lucy caught his leg and slammed him into the ground. "Attack my spirit and die."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Aye!"

Lucy looked up at Happy, who was hovering overhead. "So that's how you got back here. Should have guessed."

"Taurus." Lucy called to the spirit as it sent the Vulcan flying. "You've done enough, go back."

The bull grinned and vanished in a flash of light.

Lucy turned to Natsu. "Can you deal with this thing or should I summon someone else?"

Natsu grinned and slammed his fist into his palm "I got this. I'm all fired up!"

The Vulcan groaned in pain when Natsu landed a flaming kick in its stomach. "Tell me where Macao is or I'll burn you to a crisp!" The beast roared and tried swatting Natsu away, only

for the Dragon Slayer to duck and slam a fist in its face. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" The large monkey went flying and crashed into a cave wall, where it slumped in defeat.

"Wait for it..." Lucy muttered as they walked up to the smoking monster. To Natsu's shock, the Vulcan glowed before changing into a badly beaten man.

"I thought so." Lucy nodded sagely. "He was under the Vulcan's Take-Over spell." She knelt down next to him and took out a first-aid kit. "It looks like he put up quite a fight before he was taken over." She eyed the gash on his side. "This is a rather drastic measure, but it has to be done. Natsu, I need you to sear that shut."

The boy nodded and laid a fiery hand on the wound, cauterizing it.

"What a shame..." Macao groaned. "I got 19 of them... the last one got me..." The man chuckled humorlessly. "How can I... face Romeo... like this?"

"You're an idiot." Lucy stated coldly as she stood up. "Your son will be glad to see you back. He won't care how many monsters you took out if you return to him."

The man's gaze turned to her. "I remember you! You're that S-class mage... Lucy something. You're back from... your search?"

Lucy nodded. "We can talk about that later." She and Natsu hefted the man up and supported him as he stood. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Romeo looked up and his expression changed completely when he saw Natsu supporting Macao and both men grinning at him. Behind them, Lucy was yelling at Happy for some reason.

"Dad!" The small boy shouted, running up to his father and hugging his legs.

Macao knelt down and returned the hug. "I'm sorry I made you worry. And next time those kids you always complain about tease you about me, ask them if their old man is tough enough to defeat 19 monsters by himself, alright?"

Romeo grinned widely and waved after Natsu and Lucy. "Natsu, Happy! Thanks, you guys. And thank you, Lucy-nee!" The mentioned wizards turned and waved to Romeo with smiles on their faces.

"So how come you get an affectionate suffix?" Natsu grumbled once they were out of earshot.

Lucy smirked. "Must be my bad-ass charm and looks."

Happy opened his mouth to comment and found Aquarius' key an inch from his face.

"One word and I'll drown you."

"Aye, sir!"

Lucy sighed, before looking up at the sky and smiling. _Fairy Tail... it's good to finally be back._


	3. The new key

Lucy sighed contently as she relaxed in her tub. "The landlady is such a nice person. To have kept this clean for me the entire time I was away... This place is worth every jewel I pay for it." The girl thought back to the events of the day. "To think Mira would have changed so much." She muttered. "It's unbelievable how much I missed over those two years."

Lucy frowned when she heard something she shouldn't have in the living room. Sighing, she stood up and wrapped a towel around herself, before stomping out of the bathroom.

"Yo!" Natsu greeted her, reclining in a chair and eating a bag of potato chips. Happy waved at her from the table, where he was munching on a fish.

Lucy crossed her arms. "Explain. Why are you here?"

"Mira told us where you live, so we came to check it out." Natsu glanced around approvingly. "Nice place you got here."

"That doesn't mean you can just barge in here like that." Lucy observed, now somehow fully dressed.

Natsu brightened. "Anyway, we came because we want to see all of the key guys you have!"

The red head sighed. "You've seen Aries, Scorpio, Gemini, Taurus, and Horologium already. Apart from that I have Lyra, a musical spirit, a cross spirit named Crux, a multifunction machine

called Caelum, a Golden spirit named Aquarius, who controls water, and Cancer, the Golden spirit of the Crab."

Natsu and Happy shot up. "A crab?"

Lucy sighed, noticing that she tended to do that a lot lately. "Yes, a crab. And there's also the key I got in Hargeon, the Canis Minor gate key." She eyed the two intruders

speculatively. "I suppose I can show you how a contract is made."

Natsu and Happy nodded eagerly. "Aye!" They chorused.

Lucy nodded and held up her key. "I am a person who connects the road to the Stellar Spirit world. Thou shall answer my call and pass through the gate." The key started to glow.

"Open, Gate of the Canis Minor. Nicola!"

A small white dog-like creature with a large pointy nose and no fur appeared in a flash of light, squealing and balancing on one leg. "Puuun!"

"Don't feel bad." Natsu consoled Lucy.

The blond growled. "Idiot. It didn't fail. This is exactly what's supposed to happen."

Happy blinked. "It is?"

Lucy looked down at the spirit. "You're disgustingly cute." She observed, causing the creature to lower its head. "But I suppose it's to be expected of the Canis Minor." She added,

kneeling in front of it and patting it gently.

"Puuuun!"

"Okay, contract time." Lucy announced, taking out a notepad. "Are Mondays alright?"

The Spirit shook its head.

"Tuesdays?"

Nod.

"Wednesdays?"

Another nod.

"Thursdays?"

"Not much to it, is there?" Natsu asked Happy as they watched the spirit disagree with Fridays.

"Aye!"

"Ok, that's the contract done." Lucy smiled as she put the notepad away.

"Pu-puuun!"

"Hmmm..." Lucy rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Now what should I call you? How about... no, that won't work... that won't either... that's just stupid... I think I'll call you Plue, how's

that sound?"

The spirit jumped up in joy.

Natsu watched the scene unfold before his eyes. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked Happy.

"We should go fishing!"

"No... well, that too, but I meant that we, the three of us here, should form a team."

Lucy shrugged. "Meh. I guess it couldn't hurt."

"All right!" Natsu cheered, slamming a job request down on her table. "And I already got us a job!"

"Shirotsume Town... that's not too far from here." Lucy scanned the job form. "We get 200000 jewels for taking some book from the Duke of Everlue... and what's this? The Duke of

Everlue is a womanizer, pervert, and hentai. He's now hiring a red-haired maid."

"And Lucy's red haired." Natsu told Happy in the corner.

"Aye! We can sneak her in as a maid!" The cat agreed.

An ominous feeling settled over them as Lucy's shadow covered their forms. "Well played, boys." Lucy smirked, cracking her knuckles.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

"It actually sounds like an easy job." Lucy commented, as they entered the client's house. "I haven't done a job for a while now, so something easy like this will be refreshing."

"All we have to do is sneak into some perverted guy's mansion and steal this book, right?" Lucy asked rhetorically. "How hard can it be?"

"The reward has been increased to 2 million jewels." Their client Kaby Melon told them.

The three mages gaped at him. "2 million?" They shouted in unison.

"You weren't told?" Kaby frowned. "Yes, 2 million. You must understand, this book needs to be destroyed. I cannot allow it to exist."

"So we can burn it, right?" Natsu asked excitedly. "Let's go, Lucy!" He shouted, pulling the girl along. "I'm all fired up!"

* * *

"So..." Natsu started awkwardly. "Where exactly did you get the maid outfit?"

"This perv is looking for a red haired maid, right?" Lucy told him. "It'll be easy for me to get in if I get hired."

"Excuse me!" She yelled at the gates, while Natsu and Happy hid behind a tree. "I'm here to apply for the maid position! Is anyone in there?"

A huge form suddenly burst out of the ground in front of Lucy, and the girl's eyes widened slightly as she beheld a gorilla-like woman dressed in a maid outfit.

"Maid applicant?" The huge maid grunted. Without waiting for a response she turned towards the hole. "There's a girl interested in the maid position, Master!" She shouted into it.

A short sleazy man with oily hair and a ridiculous black outfit burst out of a smaller hole. "Did someone call me?" He asked in a low, creepy voice.

"Let's see." The man, who had to be the Duke, examined Lucy carefully. "Rejected. Go home, ugly."

"Ex-excuse me?"

The large maid scowled and stepped forward. "The Master told you to go home, ugly."

Lucy smirked and ripped off her maid outfit, revealing her usual attire underneath. "And I say it's time for plan B."

"So what's plan B?" Natsu asked curiously as he and Happy ran over to her.

Lucy stretched out her whip. "Beat our way in."

"They must be after Daybreak!" The Duke shouted as soon as he came to, twenty minutes later. "After them!"

The gorilla-like maid shot up and quickly bore a hole in the ground, tunneling her way back into the mansion.

Meanwhile, inside the house, two shadowy figures stood up. "So the opponents are from Fairy Tail this time, huh?" One of them mused. "And they got past the Duke too."

"They won't be getting past us, though." The second figure stated calmly. "Because we will kill them."

"Question." The first one spoke again. "Why didn't we move to intercept them twenty minutes ago?"

"... I have no idea."

"Storage room." Lucy muttered, looking around at all the junk littering the shelves.

"Hey, Natsu! Look!" Happy shouted, putting on a skull mask.

Natsu grinned. "That suits you, Happy!"

"Nothing here." Lucy sighed, pulling Natsu and Happy out and into the next room. Several rooms later, the three were tired of searching.

"There's gotta be a library or something around here." Lucy muttered thoughtfully.

Natsu leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "I wish something exciting would happen."

"Aye!"

Five maids burst out of the floor in front of them. "Intruders detected!" The large one in front boomed.

"Yes! I'm all fired up!" Natsu laughed, igniting his fists and feet. "Finally some action!"

As soon as the maids moved, Natsu let loose with a flaming kick, knocking them all airborne. The five women crashed heavily into the floor of the entrance hall below and didn't get up again.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. Now come on, we've got a book to find."

The redhead pulled open the next door and tossed her partners inside, before entering herself and locking it behind her.

"Wow, there's so many books!" Natsu exclaimed.

Lucy looked around. "Alright, start searching! Daybreak has got to be in here somewhere!"

"Found it!"Lucy stared at the book in Natsu's hand. "That was fast."

"Alright!" Natsu cheered, lighting up his hand. "It's burning time!"

"Hold it." The girl yanked the book out of his grasp. "It might have some incriminating evidence concerning the Duke, so I want to read it first." She took out a pair of Gale-Force Glasses and sat down, opening the book to the first page. "I'll be done in about 5 minutes. In the meantime, play with Happy's skull mask or something."

"Aha!" The Duke exclaimed, erupting out of the floor. "I found you!"

"Congratulations, you win!" Lucy announced, not taking her eyes off the book. "The grand prize for today is an ass-kicking at the hands of the Fire Dragon Slayer Natsu Dragneel."

"It's a win-win." Natsu grinned. "I'm all fired up!"

* * *

Two bookcases began to move apart, revealing a hidden passage and a pair of shadowy figures in it.

"It's finally time for business." The smaller outline stated calmly.

"If we get paid without doing any real work, Mama will get mad at us."

"Good afternoon." The smaller man greeted the group as they stepped into the light.

"So these are the mages of Fairy Tail?" The larger one mused.

"Look!" Happy shouted. "There on that cloth on their arms. They're from the Southern Wolves mercenary guild!"

"Finished!" Lucy announced as she slammed the book shut. "Natsu, Happy, change of plans. I need to speak to the client about something regarding this book. Then you can burn it."

The two mercenaries took a step back when they saw her.

"Brother, that's..." The taller one started.

"Mr Everlue." The shorter one said. "We regretfully have to inform you that we have to renege on our agreement. At this point in time, we have no desire to fight the red head girl in front of us."

The Duke flushed with rage. "And why is that?"

The two gulped in unison. "She took down and disbanded our guild practically by herself. None of us could even come close to putting up a fight against her!"

"She herself is scary enough." The larger brother added. "But when she summons her spirits there are only two possible outcomes: arrested or dead."

"See ya!" And the two of them ran out the front door.

"Fine!" The Duke snapped, brandishing a golden key. "Open, Gate of the Maiden. Virgo!"

"A Stellar Spirit mage, huh?' Lucy grinned. "And you have a golden key as well. I'll be taking that, if you don't mind."

"Hah." The Duke snorted. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Be careful what you wish for." Lucy advised him, raising three gold keys. "Open, Gate of the Ram, Golden Bull, and Great Crab. Aries, Taurus, Cancer!"

"I'm sorry." The wool-clad spirit stammered. "I'll try my best."

"Hello, my Nice Body!" Taurus exclaimed.

"Hello... ebi." Cancer greeted Lucy. Natsu and Happy face-faulted.

"It's like expecting a straight right and getting a left hook instead." Happy moaned. "You can send him back now, Lucy."

"I'll send you to your Maker if you don't shut up, cat." Lucy told Happy, before turning back to her spirits. "Taurus, you take Virgo. Aries and Cancer, get the Duke."

"O-ok/Yes, my Nice Body/You got it... ebi." The spirits chorused. Lucy raised up her whip and grinned.

"And like I said, I'll be taking that key." She commented smugly, lashing out with her whip and hitting the Duke's outstretched hand, causing him to drop his key and cradle his arm,

hissing in pain.

"Perfect." Lucy observed, picking the key up. "Now I just have to wait for... oh, they're done." The badly bruised form of Virgo vanished in a bright glow. The Duke screamed when

Cancer cut off his hair, before Aries shut him up by smothering him in a large amount of soft wool.

"Well done, all of you." Lucy thanked them, sending them back. "Let's get out of here already. I need this guy to get arrested quickly if I want Virgo to agree to a contract with me."

"Aye, sir!"

* * *

"I'm confused." Natsu told Lucy, as they headed back from Kaby's house to Magnolia. "So he wanted to destroy the book because it was a stain on his dad's honor, but then it turned out to be... what, exactly?"

Lucy sighed. "It was under a spell. Once Kaby came into contact with it, the spell lifted and the letters in the book rearranged themselves to what the book was really about. It was a message from Kemu to Kaby detailing the author's entire life and adventures."

Lucy eyed Natsu appreciatively. "I'm impressed that you turned down the reward though. Of course, your reasons made sense, but I didn't think you could be so noble."

"But we did get a reward, didn't we?" Natsu asked. "You made that contract with that Bird spirit right after we left that guy's house."

"It's Virgo, not Bird." Lucy sighed. "And I guess you can call it our reward."

"Then quit moping about it already." Natsu laughed. "Come on, I wanna get back home!"

Lucy scoffed, watching Natsu and Happy rush ahead of her. "Whatever he may say, he's still an immature kid."


	4. Lucy of the Moon Night

"Gray, your clothes." Mira chimed, causing him to freak out.

"Tch." Natsu scoffed. "Pain in the ass."

"Did you just call me a pain in the ass, you flaming pile of shit?" Gray shouted.

"A massive one, you perverted freak!" Natsu yelled back.

"You're really beautiful." Loke told Lucy, ignoring Natsu and Gray rolling around. "Even through the dark shades of my glasses, your beauty is astounding. If I were to take them off, my eyes would surely shatter."

Loke's eyes widened comically when he noticed her spirit keys. "You-you're a Stellar Spirit mage?" He cried out, cursing himself for forgetting that. "How cruel Fate is. Sorry, but this is the end of us!" He shouted, running away.

"There never was an us!" Lucy shouted after him, before scowling. "What was that about?"

Mira shrugged. "Dunno. Something must have happened between him and a Stellar Mage in the past."

"Probably got dumped by a girl he knew." Lucy grumbled when she saw him running back towards them. "What now?"

"Natsu, Gray!" Loke yelled, causing them to stop in mid-punch. "Erza's back!"

Lucy watched with a raised eyebrow as everyone in the guild immediately stopped fighting, arguing, or drinking and made themselves look as presentable as possible.

"That hasn't changed either, huh?" She asked Mira.

"Nope! You and Erza are contenders for the strongest woman in Fairy Tail, but you've been away so much that Erza has a massive head start." The barmaid explained.

Lucy nodded. "I didn't realize it was a competition." She muttered as she turned to the door.

A teenage girl with long red hair and wearing armor kicked the door open and walked in, carrying a huge horn on her shoulder. Lucy watched as Erza looked around and people cringed whenever her gaze landed on them.

"I'm back." Erza announced. "Is Master present at the moment?"

"He's at a meeting." Mira told the armor-clad woman.

"Erza." Warren interrupted. "What is that huge thing?"

Erza glanced at the horn. "Oh, this? It's a horn from the demon I defeated. The villagers were so grateful that they decorated it and gave it to me as a souvenir." Erza's gaze snapped

back to him. "Is that a problem?"

"N-no! Of course not!" The terrified man choked out.

"Anyway..." Erza slammed the huge horn down. "I heard you guys have been causing trouble again. Even if Master forgives you, I won't."

"Cana." Erza started. "That's an inappropriate drinking position. Wakaba, you're dripping ashes all over the floor. Vijeeter, if you must dance, do it outside. Nab, stop loitering around the request board and pick a job already." Erza sighed. "You guys give me so much trouble. However, I won't say anything for today."

A beer keg smashed against Erza's armor. "Ah, shut up, Scarlet." Lucy shouted. "You always bitch and moan about everyone like this. Put a sock in it already."

A smirk graced Erza's features. "I see you're back, Heartfilia. Your last name's still as stupid as ever."

"You wanna go, orphan?" Lucy growled.

"Bring it on, runaway." Erza commanded, re-quipping a sword into each hand.

Lucy raised a key. "Open, Gate of the Chisel. Caelum!" A spherical machine appeared in a blaze of light.

"Caelum, can you change into two swords?" Lucy asked. The spirit bobbed up and down, seeming to nod, before it separated into two swords with round hilts.

"Perfect." Lucy grinned, testing the balance of her weapons.

"Learned some new tricks, have you?" Erza goaded Lucy. "Come then! Show me what you've got!"

"With pleasure!" Lucy shouted, dashing forward and slicing at Erza's legs.

"You still leave yourself wide open. Haven't you improved at all?" Erza sighed, causing Lucy to jump back as she narrowly dodged an overhead slice.

Everyone watched the progressing fight with wide eyes. "Shouldn't we stop this or something?" Gray asked Mira nervously.

Mira laughed. "It's alright. Those two are best friends, after all."

Natsu tore his eyes away from Lucy trying to skewer Erza. "Really?"

The two girls grinned savagely at each other as they clashed their swords between them and leaned forward menacingly.

"It seems you did get a little better, red head." Erza admitted grudgingly.

"Of course." Lucy smirked. "I didn't spend my time just stuffing my face with cake, unlike a certain redhead I know."

Erza leaned in and peered at something curiously. "Is that a Lolita dress?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Lucy snarled.

Erza smiled. "Somehow it suits you. Tramp."

Erza sheathed her sword and dismissed the other one, while Caelum reformed into its original form and vanished. The two girls eyed each other for a moment, before hugging.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Za?" Lucy laughed.

"It definitely has. Welcome home, Cy!"

Erza looked around. "By the way, are Natsu and Gray here?"

Happy flew up to her. "Aye!" He exclaimed, pointing towards the two boys.

"H-hey, Erza." Gray choked out, trembling and holding an arm around Natsu. "We're here, j-just getting along as usual."

"Aye!" Natsu added.

Lucy blinked. "When did Natsu become like Happy?"

"I see." Erza muttered. "Best friends do tend to fight from time to time, but I'm glad to see you two are getting along."

"Actually..." Gray stammered. "We-we're not really b-best friends or anything like that..."

"Aye!"

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Natsu's unusually timid."

"Both Natsu and Gray are scared of Erza." Mira clarified. "Natsu picked a fight with her once and got beaten up. And the same happened to Gray when she caught him walking around naked. Loke tried to hit on her once and she nearly killed him."

"I'm happy to see you two are doing fine." Erza smiled. "In fact, there's actually a favor I want to ask the two of you. I heard something disturbing during my mission, and normally I would consult Master, but I consider this urgent." Erza glanced at Lucy. "Cy, we're teaming up again. Natsu, Gray, I need you two to come and help us. You will join us, right?"

The guild was in uproar, with most of the members scared and muttering about what could possibly be dangerous enough that Erza needed Lucy and the two boys to assist her.

"We're leaving tomorrow." Erza told Natsu and Gray, already heading out the guild and ignoring their halfhearted protests. "Make sure you're prepared. I'll give you the details later."

Cana frowned when she saw Mira trembling. "What's wrong?"

"Erza and Lucy..." Mira muttered. "They were already the strongest... and now Natsu and Gray too... I never imagined this, but... this is the strongest team Fairy Tail has ever had..."

* * *

Natsu groaned, holding his stomach and leaking drool as he stared out the train window, totally out of it.

Gray sighed. "You're so pathetic, Natsu. Go sit somewhere else if you're gonna be sick. In fact, why didn't you just choose to run next to the train?"

Erza sighed. "I guess there's no other way. Come sit next to me."

Lucy frowned as she stood up and traded places with Natsu. The group watched as Erza gave the sick boy a tender smile before slamming a fist in his stomach, knocking him out.

"There." She said, satisfied. "That should ease him up a little."

"So what's going on, Erza?" Gray asked. "You and Lucy can handle anything thrown your way, so why ask Natsu and me for help? What happened?"

Erza nodded. "I was on my was back from a mission when I stopped at a bar in Onibas with a reputation of being a wizard hangout. Some guys in there caught my attention when they started talking about a flute called Lullaby and about the seal on it that prevented usage. Then a guy they called Kageyama said that he can take care of it and to let someone called Erigor know that he'll return in three days. I didn't understand at first and I put it out of my mind until I remembered who Erigor was."

Erza scowled. "The ace of the Dark guild Eisenwald, Shinigami Erigor. He got that name because he keeps accepting assassination requests. They broke away from the League when the Council forbade assassination missions, because they preferred earning money to respecting the law. Despite their master getting arrested, Eisenwald continued to ignore the law."

"Why am I not surprised?" Lucy muttered.

"Those guys have a hold of this Lullaby thing and are up to something." Erza continued explaining as the train stopped and they got off. "I decided that we simply cannot overlook the matter."

Erza eyed them all sternly. "The plan is simple. We march into Eisenwald!"

"Just one problem." Lucy spoke up. "Natsu's missing."

* * *

A man stared down at a wheezing Natsu. "Mind if I sit here?" He indicated the vacant seat opposite him and plopped down without waiting for an answer.

"You seem to be in pain." The stranger observed. "Are you feeling alright?" He smiled when he noticed the guild mark on Natsu's shoulder.

"A normal guild, huh? Fairy Tail..." Kageyama leaned forward. "I envy you."

"How could I have done something like that?" Erza moaned. "I was so focused on explaining the situation that I forgot all about Natsu! And he can't handle moving vehicles either. Someone punch me!"

A high kick sent Erza flying into a building at the end of the street.

"I said punch, not kick. Is your hearing failing you, Heartfilia?" Erza asked calmly as she walked back up to them, brushing dust and debris from her armor. "Anyway, now that that's done with..."

The group followed her as she walked back into the station and pulled the emergency stop lever. Lucy sighed as the station staff ran around them, trying to regain control of the situation. "What a mess." Gray nodded. "Indeed."

"Where are your clothes?"

* * *

"Speaking of Fairy Tail, Mirajane's famous, isn't she?" Kageyama continued the one-sided conversation. "I hear she appears in magazines sometimes, and she's beautiful. She's still

young, so I'm not sure why she retired so early."

Natsu groaned, still completely out of it.

"And then there's Lucy Heartfilia. She's pretty cute too." Kageyama added. "By any chance, are the two of you friends?"

"All the cute girls go to the regular guilds." Kage mused. "Like I said, I envy you. There's no girls in my guild, so maybe you could share some of yours. That's what I'd like to say, at least."

Kageyama grinned as he kicked Natsu in the face. "Don't ignore me. That kind of attitude is demeaning to us Dark guild members!"

The man smirked when he noticed Natsu regain his bearings and glare furiously at him.

"Oh, so you're talking now." He observed smugly. "You see, Fairy Tail has been getting way too much attention lately. Stuck up people like that tend to really piss me off." He leaned

forward. "You know what we call Fairy Tail? To us, you're just annoying flies that need to be swatted." He clapped Natsu on the head to demonstrate.

Natsu shot up and screamed, igniting his fists. "AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGG-barf."

Kageyama burst out laughing. "What kind of magic is that?" A shadowy hand shout out of the floor and nailed Natsu in the face, sending him flying back. "That's how you use magic,

you fly."

The train lurched and Kage's pack fell off the seat as the vehicle came to a screeching halt. "What the... it stopped?" Kageyama exclaimed, looking out the window.

Natsu glanced at a weird flute with a three-eyed skull at one end. Kageyama noticed that and paled. "You... you saw it!"

"I owe you for earlier." Natsu observed, lighting up his hand again. "So here you go!" He punched Kage, knocking him down and sending him crashing down the aisle.

"That's how a fly can punch." Natsu told him.

"We have confirmed that the emergency stop was due to a false alarm." A voice announced over the loudspeaker. "We will resume travel shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience."

"That's not good." Natsu muttered. "I'd better get out of here."

Ignoring Kage's ranting about fighting and Eisenwald, Natsu gathered up his luggage and leapt out the window. Unfortunately, the train had already started moving by that point, so wind pressure ended up pushing him several meters back straight into Gray, who was on the roof of Erza's magical four-wheeler. Lucy laughed as the two boys tumbled backwards off the vehicle.

"What the hell were you doing, flame-brain?" Gray yelled at Natsu.

"I'm sorry, I seem to have lost my memory from the shock." Natsu deadpanned. "Who are you?"

Natsu turned away from Gray and scowled when Erza, Lucy, and Happy approached him. "Oi, how could you leave me behind like that?"

"I apologize." Erza stated solemnly.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, what Za said."

* * *

"I'm relieved to see you're safe." Erza added, smashing Natsu's head against her armor in a hug.

"How am I safe?" Natsu pulled away angrily. "Some weird guy picked a fight with me on the train! What was it again? Eisenwald or something?"

"You idiot!" Erza slapped him. "Eisenwald is who we're after!"

"That's the first time I heard about that!" Natsu exclaimed in his defense.

"I explained on the train!" Erza argued. "Why didn't you listen to what I was telling you?"

"Never mind." Lucy sighed. "What did he look like?"

Natsu scowled. "Nothing special. He carried a flute with a three-eyed skull on one end."

Lucy grasped him by the collar. "Are you sure about that?" Natsu nodded.

"Damn." Lucy muttered, releasing him. "That flute is the Lullaby! I read about it somewhere. Rumors say that whoever plays a tune on that flute will kill everyone who hears it. In other words, it's a mass murder curse!"

* * *

"Erigor-sama, we have complete control of the train!" An Eisenwald mage reported.

"Excellent." A tall man with long white hair chuckled, holding up Lullaby. "With this, the mass-murder curse magic, we are all set. Let the show begin!"

"We're here." Erza announced as the magic vehicle stopped in front of Oshibana station. "This is where the hijacked train stopped."

"Ladies and gentlemen, please stay back." A train station worker shouted through a megaphone. "A train was derailed in an accident, so no one is allowed in. Until we have the

situation under control, the station is closed to the public."

"Let's go." Erza commanded, pushing through the crowd. Natsu moaned.

Lucy gritted her teeth. "I swear to Mavis, if you don't stop treating me like transportation, I'll create a notebook full of various painful punishments that I'll use whenever you annoy me."

Erza and Lucy approached a station employee. "What's going on?"

"Who are you?" The man asked.

Lucy slammed a knee into his groin and the two girls moved on.

"What's going on?"

"I, um..."

Erza headbutted him and they moved on.

"What's going on?"

"Help me!"Lucy kicked the man into a wall and moved to the next one.

"What's going on?"

"A military platoon went in, but they haven't returned yet!" The man shouted in fear. "The terrorists from Eisenwald didn't leave either! Most probably there's still fighting going on in

there."

Erza nodded and the party of four (plus Happy) walked into the building. On the stairs, Erza sighed at the view before her.

"They've been defeated." She remarked, staring at the unconscious forms of the soldiers. "The opponent is a guild full of mages. Those guys wouldn't have stood a chance."

"I knew you'd come." A voice resounded as soon as they stepped on the platform. "Fairy Tail wizards. I've been waiting for you."

Erza glared at the speaker. "And you must be Erigor, right?"

"You flies." Kageyama snarled, rubbing a mark on his neck. "It's because of you..."

"Calm down, Kage." A man behind Kageyama advised him.

Natsu started to wake up. "Wait... that voice..."

"You! What is your plan?" Erza demanded. "Depending on your answer, I might have to make you pay!"

Erigor shrugged. "Nothing really. We have no job and we're kinda bored, so we just want to fool around a bit."

He smirked and stood up. "Don't you understand what they have in a train station?" He asked, starting to levitate. The Fairy Tail mages watched as he flew up to the large megaphones and understanding dawned on them.

"You're going to broadcast Lullaby?" Erza exclaimed. Erigor burst out laughing. "There are hundreds... no, thousands of curious people gathering around this station right now. If we

broadcast it loud enough, maybe even the entire town will hear it!"

"Murderer!" Erza spat.

"We are simply cleaning up. Those fools who live their lives enjoying their rights are unaware that there are people who have lost those same rights. Living a life oblivious to the

unfairness of the world is a sin." Erigor grinned. "And so the Shinigami has come to punish them. A punishment called death."

"Idiot." Lucy sneered. "If you do something that stupid, your rights will forever remain out of your reach."

"It's not about the rights anymore." Erigor countered. "Now that we got this far, it's the power we're interested in. If we have the power and authority, we can simply erase the past and control the future."

"What a pity that you little flies will die before seeing the new world we'll create!" Kage shouted, sending a shadow arm towards Lucy.

"I knew I recognized that voice!" Natsu shouted, smashing the shadowy limb to pieces with a flaming punch.

Kageyama growled. "Why, you..."

"Ah, so you're awake then." Lucy observed. "About time."

Natsu grinned. "This time we're on a real battleground." He glanced at the Eisenwald members. "Oh, there's so many of them!"

Erigor grinned and flew up higher. You fell for it, Fairy Tail. We had to change our plans a little, but now I can progress unhindered. There is someone who just has to hear the melody of Lullaby. Someone who I must kill!

"I'll leave the rest to you." Erigor told the guild. "While I go play the flute, you guys let those flies feel the power of Eisenwald's darkness." With these words, he crashed into a window

and flew out of the station.

Erza rounded on her team. "Natsu, Gray! You two go after him!"

Both boys stared at her. "Huh?"

"If you guys work together, there's no way you'll lose to him!" Erza told them. Now go! Lucy and I can handle things here!"

The two boys nodded and sped out of the room. "Leave them to me." One of the Eisenwald members ordered. "I'll get them!"

"I'll take the salmon head!" Kageyama shouted, vanishing into his shadow.

A roundish member of Eisenwald frowned as he observed the two girls. The blond one is Lucy... could it be?

"Ready, Cy?" Erza grinned, taking out her sword.

Lucy summoned Caelum and had it separate into two swords of her own. "You know it, Za. It'll be like old times."

"You guys are not going to insult Fairy Tail anymore!" Erza announced, leveling her sword at the Eisenwald thugs.

"Big deal!" One of them scoffed. "We have a lot of magic weapon users too!"

"Yeah, we'll strip that armor right off of you!" Another added.

Erza frowned and leapt forward, swinging her weapon and knocking down several enemies at once.

"Tch." One of the grunts scoffed. "Try some ranged magic on for... what?"

Lucy loomed over him with a feral grin, before sending him flying with the flat side of one of her swords. Erza, meanwhile, re-quipped to match Lucy's weapons.

"Oi, stop copying me, Za!" Lucy shouted.

"I'm not copying you, it's the opposite!" Erza retorted. "I was using swords before you even knew what they were for!"

"Za... Erza?" The fat guy, known as Karakka, muttered. "Erza... and Lucy?"

The two girls bumped their backs as they faced a circle of Eisenwald thugs. "This really is like old times, Za." Lucy laughed.

Erza nodded. "Indeed it is, Cy. What was that mercenary guild's name? Southern Wolves?"

Lucy nodded, knocking down another unfortunate grunt. "Yep. I actually ran into a pair of remnant members on my last mission."

"Did you?" Erza asked, dodging a sloppy attack and responding with a far more precise one. "That was the mission with the coded book, right?"

"That's right." Lucy told her, changing Caelum into a single large sword and swinging it like a club. "I also found another one of the golden keys on it. The Gate of the Maiden, Virgo."

"Interesting. Combined with the other keys, that makes seven of the Zodiac spirits." Erza observed, then scowled at the barely diminished horde of enemies. "This is taking too long."

She remarked, as her armor started to unravel and disappear. The thugs perked up. "Cool! Her armor is starting to vanish!"

The armor did disappear, only to be replaced by a different one, bearing four large wings. Additionally, a circle of swords hovered around Erza.

"Erza... and Lucy... golden keys and that re-quip speed... it can't be..." Karakka shot up. "Look out, you guys!" He yelled urgently. "Those two are the strongest women in Fairy Tail!

Titania Erza and Lucy of the Moon Night!"

Erza burst out laughing. "Really, Cy? Lucy of the Moon Night?"

"Shut it, Za." Lucy ordered. "Or else I'll..."

"You'll what?" Erza chortled. "Shine on me, oh Lucy of the Moon?"

Lucy scowled and promptly relieved her anger on another group of Eisenwald mages.

"That's right, you guys are still here." Erza realized. "Dance, my swords." She commanded the sword ring, which spun around her rapidly, knocking down the last few grunts.

"You bitch!" A still conscious man shouted, leaping at her. Erza didn't even blink as she sent the guy flying headfirst into a wall.

"She knocked Beard out with just one hit!" Karakka exclaimed, wide-eyed. "There's no way!"

Erza frowned when she saw him running away. "Go after him, Cy. He might be heading to Erigor."

Lucy nodded. "Right!" She dismissed Caelum and ran after the cowardly mage.

"Phew." Erza panted, sitting down. "Driving that magical four-wheeler drained me more than I realized. I'll have to leave the rest to the others."

Erza lay back and stared at the ceiling for a moment, before bursting out laughing. "But seriously, Lucy of the Moon Night?"

"I heard that!"

* * *

"We have to work together?" Gray exclaimed furiously.

"The power of fire and ice cannot combine!" Natsu retorted.

"There's no way!"

"Impossible!"

"I mean, Erza's so selfish!"

"Exactly!" Gray shouted. "She can't make all the decisions like that!"

"I can take care of Erigor all by myself!" They both snarled.

"Stop mimicking me!" They yelled in unison, smashing a fist into the other's face.

"Wait." Gray ordered, looking at a fork in the road. "We'll have to split up here."

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"Listen, Natsu." Gray warned him. "Our opponent is a maniac with a dangerous power at his disposal. If you find him, just crush him."

"There's more to it, isn't there?" Natsu asked. "He's an idiot who picked a fight with Fairy Tail. I'll just burn him to cinders if I find him."

The two boys grinned at each other, before realization set in and they turned away, huffing. "Don't die." Gray muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing! Just go already!" Gray shouted, already running down his path.

"Damn." He cursed, eyeing a loudspeaker. "If he's really planning to broadcast that death melody, it's not going to be pretty. Wait... broadcast?"

The enormity of his brainwave caused Gray to stop in his tracks. "If he's planning to broadcast it, then he has to be in the room with the controls to the broadcasting system!"

A few minutes later, Gray found a door labeled 'Studio'. "Found it!" He exclaimed, kicking the door open, only to find it empty.

"Wait." The ice mage muttered, oblivious to the Eisenwald member coming out of the ceiling. "This is the only room Erigor could broadcast from. If he's not here, then does that mean

he never planned to broadcast it?"

The Dark guild member grinned as he shot several black bands from his fingers at Gray's back. Just before they connected, Gray leapt to one side and spun to face his assailant.

"You have good instincts." The man praised Gray, lowering himself to the floor. "That will prove to be a nuisance to our plan."

Gray smirked. "So there really is something bigger going on here, huh?"

* * *

"Makarov, dearie, I really like your mages. They're all so lively and spirited." Master Bob of the Blue Pegasus guild came over to Makarov.

"I heard that they beat up some rich guy from somewhere." He added, sitting down at Makarov's table.

Makarov perked up. "Oh yeah! You know Lucy, that girl I told you about? She came back after two years and immediately went on a mission! She's really good, especially in the chest department!"

Goldmine, the master of the Quatro Cerberus guild, frowned. "It's good to be lively, but aren't your mages taking things too far? I heard that the council is worried they might blast a whole town to smithereens one day."

Makarov chuckled perversely. "I want to be blown to smithereens by Lucy's boobs!"

"Oh my." Bob giggled. "Don't fantasize about your own mages."

"Master Makarov." A delivery bird called, flying over with a letter. "You have a message from Mirajane Strauss."

Makarov took out a card from the envelope and held it up. A hologram of Mira came to life. "Master, thank you for attending the regular Guild Masters' meeting." She started.

"Look, she's our poster girl!" Makarov crowed to the assembled mages. "Isn't she cute?"

"Something amazing has happened, Master!" Holo-Mira cheered excitedly. "Erza and Lucy formed a team with Natsu and Gray! Of course, Happy's with them too!"

"Don't you think it's wonderful?" She asked, oblivious to Makarov breaking out in a cold sweat. "I think this might be the strongest team in Fairy Tail! I thought you should know about this, so I sent you this letter. See you soon!" And she vanished.

The other mages shot up in alarm when Makarov fell off his seat. _Good heavens!_ Makarov thought in his semi-conscious state. _Now they really could destroy an entire town. The regular meeting ends today and I can go back tomorrow, so until then... please don't make a mess!_

* * *

A large crowd milled in front of the train station. Questions like 'what's going on inside?' and 'are the terrorists gone?' were frequently heard, but the station staff keeping the crowd at bay was unable to answer, as they didn't know themselves.

"Look!" A watcher shouted suddenly. "Someone's coming out!"

The crowd fell silent and watched as Erza stepped out onto the balcony of the building.

"You're the one who barged in here earlier!" An employee with a megaphone remembered. "What's happening inside?"

Erza didn't reply. She just tore the megaphone out of his grasp and stepped forward.

"If you value your lives, leave here immediately!" She yelled through the device. "The station is occupied by dark mages. One of them is prepared to cast a spell that will kill everyone here! Evacuate as far away as possible." The crowd went still for a moment, processing her words, before the mass of people turned and ran, screaming and pushing in their haste to escape.

"Hey!" The worker exclaimed. "Why are you causing panic?"

"It's better than seeing them die." Erza responded tonelessly. "What I just said is true. Of course, we're doing what we can to prevent it, but we cannot guarantee safety. It's best if you evacuate as well."

Erza watched the man flee, before turning back to face the city_. Erigor can commit mass murder by using Lullaby. But now that there's no one here, it would be meaningless to play __it. So then... what will he do now?_

Erza's eyes widened in shock as the wind rose to unnatural speeds. "What the...?"

"If you want to broadcast Lullaby, this is the only place to do it." Gray told his opponent. "If Erigor has the Lullaby and he's not here, then why did you occupy the station?"

His enemy responded by slamming the black bands into Gray. The ice mage ducked and the attack smashed into the broadcasting console, obliterating it.

Gray frowned. He destroyed the broadcasting system without hesitation. _So they really have something else in mind!_

Gray whirled around to face another attack and formed a block of ice in front of himself, causing the bands to bounce off. "What is your real plan?"

The Eisenwald mage grinned. "Right about now, Erigor should have formed his wind wall around the station."

"Wind wall?"

The man laughed. "It's a barrier meant to prevent you flies from leaving this place."

Erza looked up at the huge wall of wind. "The station... it's completely surrounded!"

"Oh?" A floating figure sighed. "What is a fly doing outside? Wait... you're the one who made the bystanders run away. Hey, Titania." Erza looked up at the man. "Erigor! Did you do this?"

"I wanted to get a chance to fight you at least once." Erigor mused. "But unfortunately, I don't have time for that right now. So just stay inside and be a good little fly, ok?" With those words he sent a blast of wind at her, knocking her through the wind wall back into the station.

Erza picked herself up from the floor and jumped at the barrier, only to pull her hand back rapidly as cuts appeared all over it.

"Don't bother." Erigor advised. "This wall only works one way, outside to inside. Anyone trying to leave will be torn to shreds. I suppose I can call it your cage, little fly."

The man shrugged, floating away. "I've wasted enough time on you. I guess it's time for me to go now."

"What's going on?" Erza growled as she watched him disappear into the distance. "The station isn't their target?"

"I hate cryptic half-answers, so tell me exactly what's happening!" Gray ordered, smashing his foe through a wall.

"We trapped you flies here because you took us by surprise." The man chortled. "At first we planned to block off access to Clover station, which is the last stop for this line. The town

at the end is on the other side of a huge ravine, and the train is the only means of transportation there. Unless you can fly like Erigor, that is."

"So that's where he's headed?" Gray asked incredulously.

The Eisenwald mage sneered. "Think carefully. Something big is happening in Clover right now."

Gray froze in shock and realization and the mage capitalized on that moment to blast Gray back.

The ice user gritted his teeth. No way. Clover... that town is... it's where the regular meeting is being held. It's where the guild masters are right now! Are they the real target of

this madness?

"You've got some guts to try doing something like that to the old geezers." Gray commented.

"If they're unaware of what's happening, it should be easy. Someone like Erigor can handle it." The band user explained. "And the people in our way, like you guys, are trapped in this

building. With you stuck here, no one can stop us!"

"We're taking revenge on those that dared oppress us!" He crowed. "Everything in our way will disappear!"

The man choked when Gray grasped his face painfully. "We're going to stop it." The teenager growled. "And you'll regret ever messing with those we consider parents!"

His foe screamed before falling to the ground, completely stiff and frozen in a block of ice.

"I'll teach you that some guilds can be even more threatening than a Dark guild." Gray sneered, standing over the icy form.

"I-it's impossible..." Beard groaned. "Nullifying the magic of Erigor's wind wall... there's no way we could do it..."

Erza frowned and let go of the man's collar, causing him to hit the ground painfully.

"Erza!" A cry caught her attention. Titania looked up. "Gray? Weren't you with Natsu?"

"I lost him." The boy yelled back. "But there's no time for that now! Their true target is Clover. Eisenwald plans to use the Lullaby to kill the guild masters!"

"Yeah, I figured as much." Erza sighed. "But the station is surrounded by a wind wall." "I know, I saw it." Gray told her. "If we try pushing through it, we'll get torn apart." He kicked a grunt's unconscious form. "What about these guys? Don't they know how to take that barrier down?"

Erza stiffened. "I just remembered. There's someone called Kageyama in Eisenwald. If I recall, he's the one who broke the magic seal on the Lullaby flute!"

"So he's a dispeller?" Gray shouted. "In that case, he might be able to take that thing down! Come on, let's go find him!" Beard scoffed as he watched Erza and Gray run off. "Karakka." He called.

The fat mage slowly emerged from the wall.

"You heard, right?" Beard asked. "Kage's a target. Go find him."

Karakka started sweating. "I won't be able to help him out, you know that!"

Beard chuckled weakly. "Yeah, don't worry. Your job is easier than that..."

* * *

In his shadow, Kageyama sweat-dropped as he watched Natsu kick down wall after wall. "Doesn't this idiot know what doors are for?" He muttered.

"But Erigor has left the station already." He mused quietly. "I could just leave him alone now, but then... I won't be able to rest easy!" He shouted, swinging out of his shadow and kicking Natsu hard in the back of his head.

"Ow." Natsu moaned, before whirling around to face the shadow user. "You again?"

"I understand how your magic works now." Kage announced smugly. "You increase your destructive power by igniting a part of your body. Pretty unusual magic, but I'm not particularly worried. If I was facing Titania Erza or Lucy of the Moon Night, I wouldn't expect to win, but someone like you I can handle easily."

"Dammit!" Natsu shouted. "I really want to beat you up, but I don't have time! Tell me where Erigor is!"

"That's an interesting question." Kage observed. "Maybe if you defeat me, I'll tell you."

Natsu smirked. "So you'll tell me where he is if I knock you down? Sounds like a great deal to me!" He exclaimed, swiftly jumping away as a shadowy fist burst out of the ground where he stood a second ago.

"He's quick." Kage sneered. "But there's no way he'll dodge this! Orochi Shadow!"

"They'll chase you to the ends of the earth if they have to!" Kage shouted maniacally.

Natsu braced himself for the first shadowy snake, before punching straight through it and following up with a kick that destroyed two others.

"Impossible..." Kage muttered in shock as Natsu proceeded to obliterate all of the shadowy creatures one after another. "No way! He took out all of them?"

Natsu grinned as he ignited his fist and punched Kage in the face, sending him sprawling. The man didn't even get a chance to catch his breath before Natsu grabbed him and threw him through a wall.

_He's a monster!_ Kage yelled inside his head as Natsu sent a gust of flames at him. The tremendous impact of Natsu's attacks shook the entire building, attracting the attention of the rest of his team. "Heh, I win!" Natsu grinned as he surveyed his fallen opponent. "Now tell me where Erigor s."

"You fool..." Kage chuckled weakly. "Erigor isn't even in this building anymore..."

"Huh?"

"Natsu!" Erza yelled as she and Gray ran up to him. "That's enough. We need him!"

"What?" Natsu exclaimed, confused. "What's going on?"

"Good job, flame-for-brains." Gray grinned.

"It's nothing." Natsu frowned. "And what's with the two of you, eh?"

"We can't explain right now." Gray told Natsu. "We were looking for him."

"Enough." Erza commanded. "I wish Lucy was here, she's better at persuasion and information gathering than I am. Can't be helped, I guess."

Erza slammed Kage against a wall and drew her sword. "I want you to take down the wind wall at once!" She ordered. "Every time you say no, you get a new cut. Understood?"

"U... understo-" Kage gasped and coughed up blood, before slumping to the ground with a huge wound in his back. Behind him, sticking halfway out of the wall, Karakka was trembling in shock at what he'd done.

"Kage!" Erza shook the mage. "Dammit, stay with me!"

"Shit!" Gray exclaimed, running over. "This is bad!"

"Hang in there!" Erza commanded, supporting Kage. "We need your help!"

Natsu glared at Karakka. "Wasn't he... your comrade?"

The fat mage whimpered and vanished back into the wall quickly. Half a second later, a blast of concentrated light hit the wall and crushed it, sending the unfortunate mage flying.

"Good job, Caelum." Lucy inclined her head to the laser, before turning to the rest. Gray and Erza were arguing about Kage's usefulness over the boy's prone form, and Natsu was screaming at Karakka about guilds and comradeship.

"Erza." Lucy's tone was sharp and commanding, and Titania fell silent immediately. "What do we need this guy for?"

"You haven't seen the wind wall yet?" Gray asked. Seeing her shake her head he continued. "Erigor set up a wind barrier around the station. Anyone trying to leave will get shredded, but we need to leave before Erigor kills the guild masters in Clover."

Lucy nodded. "Understood. Leave it to me, I can get us out." She jerked her thumb towards Kage. "Erza, take him along. He needs medical attention."

"You can get us out?" Natsu asked, forgetting about the fat mage in front of him. "Sweet! Awesome, Lucy!"

"Aye!"

* * *

"Hmmm." Lucy looked up at the raging winds. "It's rather impressive up close."

"Yeah, great, whatever." Gray muttered. "Now can you get us out or was that all talk?" To his surprise, Erza glared daggers at him at that.

"Of course I can get us out." Lucy huffed. "Open, Gate of the Maiden. Virgo!"

A spirit in the form of a teenage girl wearing a maid outfit with chains around her wrists and sporting short pink hair appeared. "Yes, Mistress?" "Don't call me... actually, mistress is fine." Lucy sighed. "I'm guessing the gorilla form was something Everlue wanted from you?" Virgo nodded.

"I need you to dig a tunnel under this." Lucy pointed at the barrier. "One that leads from here to the outside. Can you do that?"

"Of course." the maiden bowed. "Right away, Mistress."

Without waiting for further prompts, Virgo sank straight into the ground. A few seconds later, the group could see her hazy outline waving to them from the other side of the wind wall.

"Alright!" Gray shouted. "Well done, Lucy!"

"Of course." Erza nodded, smiling. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Lucy looked the team over. "Natsu and Happy, you two go first. As soon as you're out, go straight after Erigor. Don't wait for us, we can catch up. Delay him until we get there or if you can, take him down. Got it?"

"Aye, sir!" Natsu and Happy chorused.

"Ok, we made it." Lucy breathed in relief. "It sure is windy, though."

Gray didn't respond. He was too busy looking up Virgo's skirt, an action that was rather easy thanks to the strong winds.

"If we take the four-wheeler, we should be able to catch up to Natsu and Erigor." Erza observed. "So let's hurry, everyone!"

"You guys go." Lucy told them. "I have my own way of getting there."

"This I gotta see." Gray muttered.

Lucy raised a key. "Open, Gate of the Twins. Gemini!" Two blue alien-like creatures materialized in the air and started waving their arms, doing a weird dance.

"Gemi, Mini, can you two carry another person and levitate?" Lucy asked them.

"Between the two of us we have enough strength for that." Gemi told her, somehow grasping the back of her dress.

"So where do you want us to go, Lucy? Just lead the way there." Mini added, settling under Gemi and helping him lift off.

"Never tried this before." Lucy looked at Erza and Gray. "I'll see you two soon!"

"So that's the ingenuity an S-class mage has." Gray observed. "I certainly wouldn't have thought of that just by knowing Gemini can levitate."

"That's Cy for you." Erza smirked. "She's something else."

* * *

"I see it." Erigor muttered as he approached Clover. "Just a bit further."

He frowned and turned when he heard someone rapidly approaching him. His eyes widened and he flew back from a flaming kick, having been unable to block in time.

"This is Happy's max speed!" Natsu shouted as Erigor crashed into the train tracks below them. The dragon slayer landed several meters away from the wind user and grinned.

"I can't fly anymore..." Happy muttered weakly, falling into his friend's arms.

"No problem!" Natsu exclaimed. "We caught up to him. Thanks, buddy!"

"You..." Erigor groaned. "Why are you here?"

"That's easy!" Natsu smirked. "I'm here to take you down, you wind bastard!"

"Why did you bring me along?" Kage asked weakly, slumped in his seat.

"The townspeople had evacuated and there was no one there, so we're taking you to Clover to get medical help." Kage scowled. "No, I mean, why did you save me? We're enemies!"

Realization hit. "Oh, I get it. You're taking me hostage in order to negotiate with Erigor later. That's a waste of your time. He doesn't care about anyone in the guild."

"I can kill you right now if that's what you want." Gray deadpanned. "But life and death aren't the only results of fighting, you know. You should try being more positive, you and your Eisenwald pals."

Erza groaned and attempted focusing her vision. "I must have wasted too much magic power... my sight is weakening..." She gritted her teeth and sped up. Natsu, Lucy, you have to stop Erigor! We're counting on you! If you don't stop him, all the guild masters will die!

"Bring it on!" Natsu beckoned. "I'll burn you up along with that freaky flute of yours!"

Erigor scowled. What happened to the wind wall? And what about Kageyama and all the others? Tch... and the geezers' meeting hall is so close,too... Those guys... they really are pesky flies.

Erigor made a strange hand sign and a blast of wind knocked Natsu back. "Die, you puny fly!"

"Happy!" Natsu shouted, falling into the ravine. "Crap... he's all out of power!"

Erigor watched as Natsu plummeted into the abyss. "There's no way he's coming back from this." He suddenly screamed and fell into the canyon himself.

"Why don't you join him then?" Lucy sneered, holding Caelum's two swords and looking murderous.

"Silly girl." Erigor laughed, floating back up. "I'm a wind mage. Falling is one thing that I'm safe fr-" A column of fire suddenly engulfed him and he yelled in pain.

"That was close." Natsu muttered, landing back on the bridge. "I wasn't sure if that was gonna work, but it was as good a time as any to try."

He grinned at Lucy. "Hey, Luce! So you caught up, huh? Great, you can watch me take him down!"

"It must be cold when you're half-naked like that." Natsu observed. "Why don't we heat things up then?" He grinned, igniting his fists and shooting forward at an insane speed.

"He's fast!" Erigor choked out as Natsu slammed his fist into his stomach and sent him tumbling backwards.

"Don't get carried away!" The wind mage advised, jumping up and sending a vortex of wind at Natsu. "Stormbringer!"

Natsu fell out of the attack, completely dizzy and winded. "This ends now!" Erigor crowed, swinging his scythe forward towards Natsu's neck, only for the pink-haired teen to stick his arm in the way and stop the attack.

"He blocked it with his arm?" Erigor gasped, watching Natsu's cheeks puff up. "And now he's going to breathe fire at me? What is this kid?" The man jumped up, narrowly avoiding Natsu's flames, before settling to hover a safe distance away. Seriously, what's with him? None of what he does makes any sense. Is this what all Fairy Tail mages are like?

"I may have underestimated you." Erigor straightened up. "Let's fight seriously now. Both you and the red head over there against me."

"Storm Mail." The man shouted, summoning high-velocity winds to surround him. "Here I come. No amount of your flame can break through this!"

"Natsu." Lucy called. "Stand back and rest for a bit. I've dealt with wind mages before, so I know how to deal with that thing. Open, Gate of the Scorpion. Scorpio!"

"We are!" The large man shouted exuberantly. "What can I do for you, yeah?"

Lucy pointed at Erigor and the Storm Mail. "I need you to keep shooting sand into that until it's a sandstorm."

Scorpio grinned. "We are!" He exclaimed, blasting a huge amount of sand out of his metallic tail.

Erigor's eyes widened as more and more sand swirled around in his Storm Mail, completely blinding him from the outside world. He tried moving away, but the spirit kept shifting his tail to match his movements.

"Dammit!" Erigor growled. "I can't see a damn thing now! I can't tell where they are, or even which way Clover Town is! I'm going to have to dispel this thing."

Erigor made a hand sign and the winds died down. The sand attacks, however, didn't. A Sand Buster shot caught him full in the face and knocked him down harshly back onto the train tracks.

"Excellent!" Natsu's whole body became surrounded by flames and he charged towards Erigor, who was weakly getting up. "Salamander's Sword Horn!" He shouted, slamming his head into Erigor's stomach.

The ace of Eisenwald shot high up into the air and crashed heavily into the ground, bleeding, battered, and unconscious.

"Well, that's done with." Lucy smiled, releasing Scorpio. "Well done, Natsu. You managed to take down Erigor."

Unnoticed by anyone, the skull eyes in the dropped Lullaby flute lit up for a moment, before fading again.

"Natsu!" Gray shouted, leaning out of the four-wheeler.

Natsu turned to him and smiled. "Oh, it's you guys. You're too late, we're done with him already."

"Aye!"

Erza smirked tiredly. "Well done, you two."

Kage was shocked._ They beat him? But... Erigor never loses! Just how strong are they?_

Lucy grinned as she supported Erza and made her way over to the two bickering boys.

"Wearing a scarf while naked makes you look weird." Gray observed.

"Oh sure, like you're one to talk." Natsu growled. "Lucy, let me borrow..." He caught the look from Lucy saying 'finish the question and you perish' and turned away quickly. "Never mind."

"Anyway, good job, you guys." Erza told them. "Since we're so close to Clover already, we might as well go see Master. We need to report what happened and ask about what should be done with the Lullaby flute."

A loud screech pierced the air as the magic vehicle surged forward with Kage in the driver's seat.

"You were careless, you flies!" He shouted gleefully as a shadowy hand handed the flute to him. "The Lullaby is mine now! Serves you right!"

"Can't say I expected that." Lucy commented as she watched her teammates rage at the Eisenwald mage.

* * *

Kageyama looked down at the large building. "Good." He panted. "They haven't finished their meeting yet. They should be able to hear Lullaby's tune if I play it from here."

He suddenly froze and turned slowly, only to see... a little old man gloating to himself as he looked at photos of scantily clad girls.

"I don't have time for this. I need to stop those four!" The man exclaimed, reluctantly hiding the magazine. He then seemed to sense Kage behind him, because he whirled around and immediately started stuttering denials about what he was doing.

_Wait a moment... that's Makarov, the Master of Fairy Tail. Why do I keep running into those guys?_ Kage thought. "Um, sir? Would you care to listen to just one song?"

Makarov glanced at him curiously. "That's one creepy flute you got there."

Kage chuckled. "I know it may look strange, but it sounds pretty decent."

Makarov sighed. "Alright, I guess. But only one tune, I'm in a hurry."

Kage smirked. "Sure." Thoughts of victory crossed his mind and he lifted the Lullaby to his lips. "Please listen carefully."

A series of memories suddenly assaulted his mind.

_Legal guilds are pathetic. All they are is a bunch of weaklings, yet they're so proud of themselves!_

_This is our revenge on those who slighted us. First we'll kill the guild masters!_

_If you do something that stupid, your rights will forever remain out of your reach._

_You should try being more positive, you and your Eisenwald pals._

_Hang in there! We need your help!_

_Wasn't he... your comrade?_

Kage gritted his teeth, unsure of what to do.

* * *

"There!" Gray exclaimed as Makarov and Kageyama came into view.

"Master!" Erza shouted, hoping to get the man's attention.

"Shh." A voice shushed them, as an arm shot out and stopped them from moving forward. "The best part is coming up." The short bald man told them.

The man glanced at Natsu and Gray. "Oh my, aren't the two of you cute?"

Lucy smiled. "Master Bob, you haven't changed at all. "Master Bob giggled. "I can't say the same for you, Lucy-chan, Erza-chan. My, the two of you have grown."

* * *

"Well?" Makarov prompted. "Hurry up and play."

"Oh, this is getting good." Master Goldmine grinned, leaning against a tree.

_I just need to play one song!_ Kage thought furiously. _Everything will change after that!_

Makarov stared at him for a moment, before sighing and turning away. "Nothing will change." He announced, much to Kage's horror.

"Weaklings will stay weak." Makarov continued. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing. We humans are weak creatures to begin with. We are weak, fragile, and insecure. That's why we form guilds. That's why we have friends and comrades. We walk together so that we can live a strong and fulfilling life. Some of us are clumsier than others, and they will run into more obstacles and it'll take them longer to reach their goals. But that's also alright, because their friends will be there to help every step of the way. If you believe in yourself and move forward, you will become stronger all on your own. That's how you'll be able to smile and live strong. And you won't have to depend on tools like that flute."

Kage gasped. _Amazing... he knew all this time!_ He trembled for a moment, before dropping the flute and slumping to his knees. "I give up."

The four mages rushed forward. "Gramps!" Natsu and Gray shouted in unison.

Makarov's jaw dropped. "What? You guys are here?"

Erza smiled as she hugged him, banging his head against her armor. "You were amazing. I feel so touched by your words!"

Master Bob smiled, observing the chaos unfold, before he squatted down next to Kage. "I'm not sure what's going on, but you're kinda cute too!"

"Pathetic." An eerie voice announced, as smoke began pouring out of the Lullaby. "You mages are spineless wimps!"

Everyone stared at the flute as more smoke billowed out of it. "I can't take it anymore. I'll just devour you all myself!"

The gathered mages watched in shock and fear as the smoke solidified into a huge demon made of wood . "I'm going to consume all of your souls!"

"What is that?" Kage stared at the thing in horror. "Erigor didn't say anything about this thing!"

"Oh, my." Master Bob sighed. "This is bad."

Goldmine stared up at the demon. "This thing is from the book of Zeref!"

Standing just outside of the meeting hall, the other guild masters were observing the situation unfold. "This isn't looking so good."

"Maybe we should help them out?"

"I would, but my back hurts, you know?"

"It's been so long since I last fed." The giant demon stated. "So I'm going to eat your souls!"

"WHAT?" Natsu shouted, before turning to Gray. "Sours are edible? Do they taste good?"

A tick mark appeared on Gray's forehead. "How the hell should I know, flame-for-brains?"

"That thing is the Lullaby." Goldmine observed. "It's living magic. Something Zeref excelled at."

Gray frowned. "Zeref? The guy from ancient times?"

"The Dark mage Zeref." Bob explained. "The most evil mage in history. I never would have expected his legacy to reemerge in this way..."

Lullaby loomed over the gathered mages. "Now... whose soul shall I enjoy devouring first? Oh, I know." It opened its gaping maw wide. "All of yours!"

"Greedy bastard, isn't he?" Lucy asked rhetorically, holding up two keys. "Let's see... I already summoned Caelum, Virgo, Caelum again, Gemini, and Scorpio. I should have recovered enough magic power since the fight with Erigor to do this, though. Open, Gate of the Twins and Gate of the Chisel. Gemini, Caelum!"

Lucy turned to the blue twin spirits. "Gemi, Mini, I need you to copy Happy. He can fly and maneuver faster than you two and I could use that ability right now." The twins nodded

and went off to make physical contact with Happy.

"Caelum." Lucy spoke to the other spirit. "The usual form, if you could." The mechanical spirit bleeped and changed into twin swords.

"Alright!" Lucy commanded once Gemini-Happy had a hold of her. "Let's go, you guys!"

Makarov, Goldmine, Bob, Kage, and the other guild masters watched as the team of four charged forward. Goldmine blinked in surprise when he saw Erza change from her usual armor into the Heaven's Wheel and lad a severe blow on Lullaby's leg. "She can requip armor?"

The disoriented monster grunted in pain and Natsu capitalized on its confusion, charging up the thing's body and landing a solid kick on the side of its head. The watchers gasped in

shock as the demon stumbled and took a hasty step back in order to remain standing.

"How dare you?" Lullaby screamed, shooting purple energy missiles at Natsu from its mouth. The boy smirked as he narrowly dodged, and Lucy found herself facing the bullets instead.

Caelum bleeped something frantically.

"Really?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

"Beep!"

"Ok, here goes!" Lucy pointed a sword straight at the oncoming attack.

"What's she doing?" Goldmine yelled in fear. "That'll kill her if it connects!"

Lucy smirked as a magic circle appeared in front of the sword she had pointed at Lullaby's attack, and the watchers gasped in surprise as the attack vanished into the circle.

"Eat this!" Lucy shouted, directing her other sword at the demon. Another magic circle appeared at its tip and Lullaby's own attack shot out of it and hit the demon in the stomach,

piercing several holes in it.

"Caelum's hidden ability." Lucy explained, her voice carrying to everyone. "When in this form, it can use displacement magic. One sword can absorb anything coming at it and the other

can then release it whenever I want it to."

Gray scowled when Lullaby shot another volley at him and the watchers. "Ice Make..."

"He won't make it!" The observers panicked. "Run!"

"Shield!" Gray shouted, throwing his hands out. A huge semi-circular wall of ice formed instantaneously in front of him, stopping the attack in its tracks.

"Incredible!" The bystanders remarked. "To be able to use ice maker magic on such a level!"

Makarov grinned. _They ain't seen nothing yet!_

Gray folded his hands together. "Ice Make Lance!" He shouted. "Gray!" Lucy called, positioning herself strategically and pointing her left Caelum sword at him. "Can you shoot some over here too?"

Gray nodded and fired a volley of ice spears. Half of them shot straight at Lullaby, while the other half vanished into the left sword and shot out of the right one into Lullaby's back.

The giant demon roared as it was assaulted simultaneously from both sides.

Erza smiled to herself and requipped into a darker form of armor. "That's Blackwing Armor!" Someone exclaimed. "It increases the destructive power of the wearer's attacks!"

"The flames in my right hand, and the flames in my left hand." Natsu chanted, igniting both hands. "If I put them together, I get... Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" He lifted his hands and

a huge fireball formed in them.

"Gemini!" Lucy called to the spirit. "Drop me straight on that thing! I need to get in close if I want to attack!" Pseudo-Happy nodded and released her straight over the demon's head.

"Take this!" Lucy screamed, twirling her body.

Four attacks connected with Lullaby at the same time. Lucy delivered two violent strikes to the thing's head, Gray pierced a few more holes with his ice attacks, Erza chopped at the demon's legs, knocking it off balance, and Natsu took advantage of that by slamming his fireball straight into Lullaby's chest.

"N-no way..." The giant demon gasped as it slowly turned to dust. A beam of bright light shot into the sky, and moments later the skull eyes in the Lullaby flute dimmed forever.

"Excellent." Makarov smirked.

"Amazing..." Kage stammered as four figures stepped out of the smoke. "Th-this is... this is Fairy Tail's strongest team!"

"What do you think?" Makarov cheered. "Aren't they awesome?"

Goldmine smirked. "You guys made defeating Zeref's demon look easy." Kage smiled weakly, observing the cheering group.

"We need to get you to a doctor!" Master Bob exclaimed, hugging the injured teen.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH HH!"

"I don't know how it came to this, but it seems we actually owe Fairy Tail one now." Goldmine observed.

"Don't worry about... it..." Makarov trailed off, his eyes wide. The other guild masters followed his gaze and their jaws dropped.

"The meeting hall!" Someone shouted, as they all stared at a giant hole in the ground. "It's been wiped off the face of the earth!"

Natsu burst out laughing. "It's completely gone!"

Lucy grabbed Makarov by his collar and slung him over her shoulder. "Time to go."

"Master, we're really sorry." Erza told Makarov solemnly, while Natsu managed to somehow chase them and be chased at the same time. "We disgraced you."

"Don't worry about it." Makarov told her. "I don't think they would have invited me again anyway. And Lucy, could you turn me around? I wanna watch your boobs bounce as you run."

Lucy just sighed.


	5. Natsu and Erza s fight and the kiss

I dont own Fairy Tail

* * *

Lucy yawned and stretched in her chair. "Ah, it feels so good to finally relax. Slaving for hours over an oven helps relieve stress like nothing else, but it's also tiring as hell. Still, nothing is better than getting to relax back here at home."

"I couldn't agree more." A voice behind her said. "70000 jewels for this place? You sure got a sweet deal."

Lucy sighed and turned to face the intruder. "How long have you been there, Gray?"

"I just got here, actually." The ice user grinned as he walk over to Lucy and lay his arms around her wrist as Lucy lay her hands around Gray´s neck and came closer until they kiss. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have a change of clothes, would you? I lost mine somewhere on the way here."

Lucy rubbed her eyes in exasperation. "No, Gray, I don't have clothes for you. Why are you here, anyway?"

Gray frowned. "You remember what's happening today, right? Natsu challenged Erza to a fight back when we were after Eisenwald and it's about to happen."

"I didn't forget." Lucy waved a hand dismissively. "I know Erza will kick his ass just like every other time he fought her. Besides, I'm beat. You go and watch her pummel him, I'm just going to take a nap."

"You don't have much faith in Natsu, do you?" Gray chuckled.

"I'll tell you one thing, Gray." Lucy eyed him seriously before she gave him a perk on his lips. "I'll always take Erza's side over Natsu's."

* * *

"This should be an interesting fight." Elfman observed.

"I'll have to agree with Lucy, though." Gray smirked. "Erza is so going to win this."

Several meters in front of Natsu, Erza smiled. "It's been a while since we last fought, hasn't it?"

"I was just a kid back then!" Natsu shouted. "I got much better! And I'll prove it by winning today!"

"I won't go easy on you, Natsu." Erza told him, as her armor glowed. "I want to test my powers, too."

The glow around her died down and her armor changed from the usual to a red and black scaly one.

"That's the Flame Empress armor!" Someone exclaimed. "It cuts the damage caused by fire in half. Erza is really going all out on this!"

"The Flame Empress armor." Natsu grinned. "Bring it on! Now I won't have to hold back at all!"

Makarov eyed the two fighters. "Ready... go!"

Both fighters charged forward.

"It is a pretty good match, isn't it?" Elfman commented after a few minutes of exchanging blows.

"You're clearly seeing something I'm not." Gray deadpanned.

A shrill noise filled the air and everything ceased movement, even Natsu and Erza.

"That's enough." A frog-like creature announced, stepping forward. "Please remain calm. I am a messenger from the council."

Ignoring the muttering from the gathered crowd, the messenger unrolled a piece of paper and started reading. "With charges of damaging property and eleven other crimes committed during the Eisenwald incident a few days ago, Erza Scarlet is now under arrest."

Everybody froze. "What?"

* * *

The guild hall was silent. Everywhere in sight, mages were slumped in their seats or had their faces buried in their hands or tables. A gloomy demeanor was hanging in the entire guild hall. Lucy was currently outside, where she and Laxus were beating the crap out of each other in what was originally a sparring match, but quickly degenerated into a way to relieve

pent-up frustrations.

"Let me out!" A tiny lizard-like creature demanded, yelling at Mira from its makeshift prison under an overturned glass. "Let me out, dammit!"

"Shut up, Natsu." Mira ordered him. "If we let you out, you'll do something reckless and stupid."

"I won't!" The lizard protested. "Just let me return to my original form!"

Mira leaned in. "Why? So you can run off and rescue Erza?"

"Hell no!" The creature yelled. "Who cares about Erza?"

"Our opponent is the council." Gray sighed. "Nothing we can do but wait."

A wall burst open and Lucy flew out of it, turning in mid-air and landing on her feet, before leaping forward and running back out through the hole.

"Let me out!" The thing yelled again. "I just have to tell those council jerks something! I don't care if they're important, I know they're making a mistake!"

"The council won't listen to our excuses anyway." Gray observed.

Elfman growled. "We've done so many things that pissed them off before, why do something now?"

"Yeah." Loke agreed. "I don't understand it at all."

* * *

A blue-haired teen looked up and smirked at the sight of Erza handcuffed and escorted by a frog messenger.

"Siegrain." Erza scowled.

"Long time no see, Erza." The council member remarked, amused at the messenger's hasty bow. "Relax. This is just a projection. I'm actually at Era. The old folks behind that door are

also mere images. There's no way they would actually come here for such a small case."

"I see." Erza fixed him with a murderous glare. "So this is your doing."

"Well, that's uncalled for." Siegrain gave an infuriating smile. "I even spoke on Fairy Tail's behalf. The geezers are simply afraid of being held responsible, so they agreed to let you be the scapegoat."

"Shut up."

"Fine." The boy gave a fake sigh. "You wound me so... anyway, the reason I'm here before the trial is simple." He leaned in close and lowered his voice. "Keep quiet about 'that', understand? It's for your own good."

"All right." He stepped back and began to distort. "I'll be waiting for you on the other side as a council member." And he blinked out of existence.

Back in Era, the real Siegrain smiled to himself. "I made it all the way here... do not interfere, Erza."

The council leader stood up. "We will now begin the mage trial." A scribe spoke. "Defendant Erza Scarlet, please take the witness stand."

Erza was still glaring at Siegrain, even as she slowly stepped over to the stand.

* * *

"Let me out!" The lizard yelled again. "Out, I say!"

Makarov sighed. "Are you sure you want to come out?" To the mages' puzzlement, the lizard frowned and stroked its chin in thought.

"What's wrong, Natsu?" Makarov sneered. "Cat got your tongue?" Without hesitation, the old man blasted the glass and lizard with a bolt of magical energy. IN a puff of smoke, the lizard transformed into Macao.

The guild was in uproar.

"Sorry." Macao grinned sheepishly, rubbing his head. "I kinda owed Natsu, so I transformed into a lizard and let him run off, while pretending to be him."

"Then where's the real Natsu?" Lucy asked, walking in with dirt-covered clothes and out of breath. Behind her, Laxus was frowning as he covered his right arm with his left hand, trying to stem a small trickle of blood.

"Don't tell me he went after Erza." Gray shouted, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Yeah." Elfman added. "This is no joke! He'll probably try and pick a fight with the council members!"

"Calm down, everyone." Makarov ordered, still sitting on the bar table. "Let's just wait and see what happens."

* * *

"Defendant Erza Scarlet." The council leader spoke. "Regarding the terrorism incident with Eisenwald the other day, you are suspected of destroying part of Oshibana station, Clover

Canyon's railway bridge, and an entire mansion in Clover Town. According to the testimony we gathered from witnesses, the culprit is a female mage in armor, and so-"

The wall behind Erza exploded.

"I'm the armor mage!" A person with clearly fake red hair and clad in armor yelled, breathing fire on the rubble. "Arrest me if you think you have what it takes!"

Jaws all around the room dropped, Erza's included.

"I'm Erza, dammit!" The figure yelled. "Now tell me what I'm accused of!"

Siegrain was watching things unfold with wide eyes and an almost hysterical smile.

"Make sure whatever I'm charged with is more important than the lives of the guild masters!" The fake Erza finished off 'her' rant.

The council leader slowly exhaled. The intruder spread his/her/its arms wide, drawing attention to the ruined courtroom, and grinned widely.

"Put them in jail." The man sighed, before face-palming.

Erza bowed to the man. "I'm so sorry about this..."

"Erza!" Natsu shouted. "Don't apologize! Wait... I'm Erza!"

The head judge leaned back in his chair and gave another sigh. "What is wrong with these Fairy Tail mages?" He asked himself as Natsu and Erza were led away.

"Words fail me." Erza glared at Natsu. "This thing was just a formality."

Natsu's jaw dropped. "Formality?" "The arrest was just a facade." The armor-clad girl explained. "The council needed to assert their authority to prove they were keeping us in check."

"I don't get it."

"It's simple." A tick mark appeared on Erza's forehead. "It means that I would have been declared guilty, but I wouldn't receive any punishment. If you didn't show up, I'd have been home by now."

"EEEEEEH?"

Erza gave a soft smile. "But, I do appreciate the gesture."

"You and Lucy are best friends and so close to each other, I thought for sure she'd come along to help."

"Unlike you, Lucy has a brain."

"HEY!"

* * *

"I see..." A shadowy figure muttered, observing the cell. "So he was in Fairy Tail all this time, wasn't he? Natsu Dragneel..."

* * *

"Woohoo!" Natsu cheered, holding up a mug of something that appeared to be on fire. "Freedom is awesome!" He then proceeded to charge across the guild hall, dodging beer kegs and Cana's cards as he went. "Freedom!"

Elfman glanced at the rampaging boy. "Say, now that Erza's back, what about that manly duel between her and Natsu?"

"Oh yeah!" Natsu skidded to a stop. "I forgot about that! Hey, Erza! Let's finish our fight!"

"I'm busy, Natsu." Erza muttered, not even glancing at the boy as she continued her work. "Anyway, Cy." She tied another bandage around Lucy's arm. "What the hell did you do to get all those scrapes and bruises on you?"

"Here I come!" Natsu shouted, igniting his fist and flying at Erza. The redhead sighed and smashed him in the face with a fresh roll of bandages (yes, with the soft cloth). The guild members gaped as the boy flew across the room and embedded himself in a wall, completely knocked out.

"And you're out! Aye!" Happy cheered.

Mira smiled at the scene, before hearing Makarov grunt. "What's wrong, Master?"

"I'm getting sleepy." The man observed. "It's him. He's coming."

"Ah." Mira nodded, before collapsing asleep to the floor. Her example was swiftly followed by all of the other mages.

A man with every part of his body covered in black cloth stalked in, ignoring the sleeping bodies.

"Mystogan." Makarov greeted him, having resisted the sleep magic. The man's eyes, his only visible feature, narrowed as he scanned the mission request board. Finally, he took one

notice off and showed it to Makarov on his way out. "I'll take this one."

He was almost out of the guild before he turned back towards the old man. "Oh, and I see Heartfilia's back." He commented. "Tell her I said hello."

"Release your sleep magic!" Makarov yelled after him.

"Five." Mystogan started counting off as he headed for the exit. "Four. Three. Two."

He was already outside the building when he finished. "One."

Immediately after that, every eye in the guild snapped open.

"What the..." Gray rubbed his head. "Was that Mystogan?"

"It's been a while since I felt that." Lucy added, wiping a bleary eye. "Man, I hate that."

"Hey, Lucy, how do you know him?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Mystogan was my partner for the S-Class exams." Lucy explained. "If I remember right, we ended up defeating Erza and Mira. I got promoted then, but he ended up waiting two more years. Erza advanced back then as well."

"You didn't defeat us!" Erza objected. "You just took advantage of us arguing, put me to sleep, and beat Mira up when I was unconscious!"

"Details, details." Lucy waved a dismissive hand.

"Anyway, for some reason Mystogan hates being seen." Gray explained unnecessarily as he walk over to Lucy and lay an arm around her wrist. "So whenever he shows up to get a job, he puts everyone here to sleep. That's why Master is

the only one who's seen his face."

"Not quite." A smug voice commented. "I know what he looks like as well."

Heads turned to see Laxus leaning on the second floor railing and sneering down at them.

"Another one of our strongest members." Gray grumbled.

"Mystogan is just really shy." Laxus continued. "Don't hold that against him."

"Laxus!" Natsu jumped forward. "Fight me!"

"Didn't Erza just beat you up?" Someone in the back asked.

"He's right." Laxus smirked. "If you can't even win against someone like Erza, what chance do you stand against me?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Erza asked quietly.

Laxus sighed, noticing the lost look on Natsu's face. "Right, let me put it in simpler terms. I beat Lucy, Lucy beat Erza, Erza beat you. You fight me, you get beat. Get it?"

"Why are you above me on his list?" Erza muttered to her friend.

"Well..." Lucy smirked. "He usually wins our spars, I beat you in the S-Class exams, and you kick Natsu's ass every time he challenges you. Duh."

"I was asleep!"

"Still counts."

"To answer your first question, Erza, it's simple." Laxus spread his arms out and laughed. "I'm the strongest!"

"Get down here, you bastard!" Natsu growled.

Laxus laughed at that. "Well, why don't you come up?" "Bring it on!" Natsu charged towards the staircase, only to get slammed into a wall by Makarov's giant hand.

"Natsu." Makarov started. "You don't get to go to the second floor. Not yet."

Laxus chuckled at that. "Ha ha, you got scolded."

"You stop as well, Laxus."

The man straightened up. "I'll never hand over my position of Fairy Tail's strongest to anyone. Not to Lucy, not to Erza, not to Mystogan. Not even to that old geezer. I'm the strongest!"

* * *

"The second floor." Lucy mused, once Laxus left and the guild calmed down (which was a few hours later). "Right, I forgot. That's where the S-Class job requests are, right?"

Mira nodded. "Including you, there are six people in Fairy Tail qualified for them. Master makes seven, but he doesn't go on them because he's... well, Master."

"S-Class, eh?" Lucy muttered, looking up at the second floor. "Hmmmm..."

"The chain of command in Fairy Tail sure has changed, hasn't it?" Lucy asked herself as she headed home. "At the bottom, there's almost everyone, lumped together. Even Mira's down there now. Then there's Natsu and Gray. Above them is Laxus, Mystogan, Erza, and the awesome me!" She giggled. "Then there's 'that geezer', and at the top there's Master."

She opened the door to her apartment. Her eye involuntarily twitched.

"What the hell are YOU doing in here?"

"Oh, hey." Natsu puffed, doing sit-ups. "Welcome back."

"Why are you even here?" Lucy demanded, opening the window to let the stink out. "Go exercise at your place or something."

"We have to get stronger to defeat Erza, Laxus, and you." Natsu explained. "So we're gonna stay here all night to work out."

"And there's another thing." Natsu looked up at her and grinned. "I saw you take an S-Class job earlier. We're coming with you!"

Lucy felt a headache forming. "Fine." She groaned. "You can come. Just don't stink up my apartment anymore."

Natsu's grin widened. "Sweet. Alright, we set out tomorrow first thing!"

"Aye, sir!"


	6. Galuna Island

i don't own anything but Enjoy.

* * *

"Noooooooo!" A terrified wail came from the second floor, alerting all guild members in the building. "Master!" Mira rushed into view. "One of the requests from the second floor is missing!"

Makarov spat out his drink. Everyone froze.

Laxus grinned inwardly. _I know Lucy took that Galuna Island mission, but she clearly forgot to sign off that she took it... now, how do I spin this to speed up my purge plan... Lucy will be fine, but I don't want that Natsu punk here, and he's gone with her... ooh, I got it!_

"Oh yeah..." He muttered, catching everyone's attention as he pretended to recall something. "Yesterday, I think I saw a cat steal one of the jobs from that board. I think it had wings..."

Realization dawned, and Laxus smiled to himself as people began cursing and ranting about Natsu's stupidity.

"Hey, Gramps." Laxus started. "That brat just broke one of our main rules... when he comes back, he's going to get kicked out, right? Then again, I doubt he'll be back. I mean, his pathetic skills can't hope to survive an S-rank mission."

"Didn't Lucy go with him?" Someone asked hopefully.

Laxus shrugged. "I think she said something about a slow relaxing mission. She said she needed to recover from our spar yesterday, but didn't want to waste time doing it." He lied easily.

Mira scowled. "Laxus, if you knew about this, why didn't you stop him?"

"I thought it was a mere cat stealing a piece of paper." Laxus feigned innocence. "I didn't know it was Happy, or that Natsu was stupid enough to do something like this."

"This is bad." Makarov sighed. "Which job is missing?"

"The Cursed Island of Galuna job."

Makarov's pipe fell out of his mouth. "WHAT? Laxus, bring him back immediately! When Lucy comes back I'll send her after him as well, but who knows when that'll be! Now go!"

"Stop joking around." Laxus smiled. "I have my own job to do. Besides, Fairy Tail mages should be able to handle themselves, right?"

"Who else but you can knock some sense into him?" Makarov yelled desperately.

"Gramps." Gray stood up. "No need to be insulting."

* * *

"Alright." Lucy smiled, looking out over the town of Hargeon. "First thing to do is find a boat that'll take us to Galuna Island."

"A boat?" Natsu exclaimed, aghast. "No way! We're swimming there!"

"Natsu." Lucy warned. "I'm in charge, and only by following my orders you're even allowed to be here with me. Now shut up and search for a boat!"

The search progressed, with each fisherman giving them similar refusing answers. Lucy was slowly becoming more annoyed with each one of them.

"No sailor even wants to go there." The last man there explained. "Even pirates avoid that place."

"Ok, we're swimming!" Natsu cheered.

"Unless you're not afraid of swarms of sharks, then that's suicide."

"Damn right I'm not scared!" Natsu shouted. "I'll just fry them!"

"Natsu." Lucy face-palmed. "Ignite your fist." The boy did so.

"Now put it in the water."

Natsu frowned at the weird command, but did so. It went out immediately.

"See? How do you expect to fight sharks in water if that happens as soon as you try?"

"Point taken."

Lucy sighed and sat down heavily on a stone bench. "Now what?"

"I told you, we swim!" Natsu insisted.

"Found ya!" A third voice added from behind them. Gray grinned as Natsu shot up in shock and Lucy mumbled something.

"Why are you here, Gray?" She asked.

"Master ordered me to bring you back." Gray told them. "Although, I was told Natsu was alone."

Lucy frowned. "Huh? Why would he be? I took an S-rank mission yesterday and let him accompany me. That isn't against the rules, right?"

Gray shook his head. "It isn't, but... I don't understand. Laxus said that he saw Happy steal that job from the request board on the second floor last night. Are you saying he lied?"

"It seems so." Lucy nodded. "But still, didn't anyone in the guild know I took this job? I went up to that board, took the job, and walked out. Isn't that how jobs are taken?"

"Low-rank jobs, maybe." Gray sighed, spotting her mistake immediately. "S-rank jobs are supposed to be declared taken to the Master or Mira, so that they can be officially removed

from the running in other guilds." He frowned, noticing Lucy was missing. "Lucy?"

"This is what happens when I've been away for too long. How could I forget something like that?" Lucy grunted, repeatedly slamming her head against a wall. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

"Well, I doubt you two will be punished once you explain this to Master." Gray observed. "So, if you don't mind, do you think I could tag along too? I've never been on an S-rank before."

"Yeah, whatever, sure."

"Pardon me." The forgotten boatman spoke up. "From what I understand, you three are in a magic guild, right?"

"Yeah." Lucy nodded. "And I guess I'm in charge of our team here."

"Perfect!" The man gave a smile. "If you stop the curse on the island, then I'll happily take you to it!"

"Deal!" Natsu shouted before Lucy and Gray could think it over.

"Where did all your enthusiasm go, Natsu?" Happy teased, hovering next to the seasick mage.

"So." Gray turned to the boatman. "What's your story, old man?"

"My name is Bobo. I once lived on that island." The man started. "However, I escaped from that cursed place."

Lucy frowned. "And what kind of curse is it?"

The man looked at them grimly. "If you go to that island... only misfortune awaits you." A small amount of hope found its way into his voice. "Can you guys really stop this curse?" He pulled back his sleeve to reveal a scaly, claw tipped arm. "This demonic curse?"

"The moon casts its light onto that island. "He added ominously.

Lucy, Happy and Gray stared at the arm in shock. "This... the curse did this?"

The man stared at them for a moment, before something caught his eye. "There it is. Galuna Island."

The conscious trio gazed at the island for a moment. "Say, old man..." Lucy started, only to fall silent when she turned to face an empty boat.

"What happened?" Gray peered into the sea. "Did he fall over? Happy, go check."

"Aye!"

The cat emerged several moments later. "He's not there!"

"Hey." Natsu muttered weakly. "What's that noise?"

The others stared in fear at the huge wall of water about to crash down on them. "Tidal wave!" Lucy shouted. "Everyone, hold on to something!"

Then the wave crashed down on them.

* * *

"Hey, Laxus." A guild member asked nervously, walking up to the blond mage. "How did your earlier spar with Lucy go?"

Laxus frowned. "It was... interesting. I kept shooting lightning at her and she was continuously dodging in an attempt to get in close. She didn't even summon anything to help her."

Another guild member leaned in. "Why not?"

Laxus sighed. "In the spar, she was training to hone her own fighting skills and reflexes. She wouldn't get to do anything like that if she just summoned something to fight for her."

"So she didn't use her keys at all?" The first man asked to be sure.

"What?" Laxus blinked. "Oh, no, she used them."

"But you just said she didn't summon anything!" The second man protested.

Laxus pushed back his sleeve, revealing a puncture wound with dried blood around it. "She didn't summon anything. That doesn't mean she didn't use them."

Both men made a mental note to never get on Lucy's bad side. Getting stabbed with a key sounded painful.

* * *

Lucy opened her eyes slowly. "Ow, my head... where am I?" She noticed a clear blue sky above her and stood up shakily as memories flooded her mind. "Is everyone alright?"

"Holy crap, we're on Galuna Island!" Natsu shouted, shooting up.

"Yeah, whatever." Lucy waved him off and noticed Gray wake up. "I'm more concerned about that demonic curse and why that man vanished."

"Don't worry about it!" Natsu cheered. "Let's go explore!"

"Aye, sir!"

"There's supposed to be a village here." Lucy remembered. "The mayor there is our client for this job. We should head there first."

"That makes sense." Gray stepped up next to Lucy. "Let's go."

"Keep out." Gray read. "Well, I certainly feel welcome." "Hey!" Lucy yelled at the huge gate. "Open up in there!"

"This sucks." Natsu muttered. "Let's break it."

Lucy held up a key. "Let's. Open, Gate of the-"

"Who's there?" A voice from the rampart called.

"We're from the Fairy Tail guild." Lucy shouted up at the guard. "We're here about your request!"

"Fairy Tail?" A second guard was puzzled. "We didn't know your guild accepted our request."

"Well, um..." Lucy rubbed her head sheepishly.

"That's fine." Gray shouted. "If we can't get in, we'll leave."

The guard frowned. "Show me your symbols." He ordered, nodding to himself as they did so.

The second guard eyed Lucy, who was putting her glove back on. "You, girl. Strip!"

"Over my dead body!" Lucy shouted back, punching Natsu, who was already reaching for her.

The first guard glowered at the second, who sighed in embarrassment. "Sorry, I got carried away." He turned to the inside. "Open the gate!"

"Get in." The first guard instructed them. "I'll call for the mayor."

"Thank you for coming." The man leading a heavily clothed crowd spoke. "I apologize for the unusual act we're about to do, but please watch. Everyone, remove your robes!"

Clothes everywhere fell to the ground, revealing villagers with deformities similar to the boatman's. Arms, legs, horns, even wings could be spotted in the curse-afflicted crowd.

"Awesome sideburns!" Natsu yelled at the chief, wide-eyed.

The man coughed. "Yes, well, I actually meant to show you this arm." He shook his blackened hand. "Doesn't it scare you?"

"Everyone on this island..." He explained. "Even the dogs and the birds are afflicted by this curse."

"Not that I'm doubting your story, but are you sure this isn't some sort of disease?" Gray asked.

The mayor shook his head. "I've consulted many doctors, but they all said there is no disease that can do this. Also... we believe that the magical power of the moon has something to do with our condition."

Lucy frowned. "Explain."

"Ever since ancient times, this island has accumulated moonlight." The chief said. "This made the island so beautiful and luminous that it shone like the moon itself. But a few years ago, the moon suddenly began to turn purple."

"Purple?" Natsu repeated. "I've never seen the moon look like that."

"All who come from the mainland say that." The man sighed. "But in reality, the moon is indeed purple on this island, and when it first became that way, our bodies started to change."

As if on cue, the clouds from the night sky cleared, and a purple orb shone down on them.

"It's true, the moon is purple." Lucy frowned in confusion. "That definitely isn't natural."

"That is the curse of the moon's magical power." The mayor said.

The mages gazed in shock as the bodies of the villagers began to stretch and contort, before they became grotesque caricatures of their human forms.

"What the..." Gray choked out. "What is this?"

"I apologize if we scared you." The now green mayor started. "When the purple moon reveals itself, our bodies take on these hideous demonic forms."

"If it's not a curse, then what is it?" A man next to him added.

Natsu glanced at a horned woman comforting a feathery crying child. All around them, demonic villagers were blinking back tears or gritting their teeth in misery.

"When the morning comes, we will be back to normal." The mayor continued. "However, lately there were some of us who also lost their soul to this curse. We have decided to kill anyone who has lost their soul and remained a demon for good."

"But what if there's a chance they could be restored?" Lucy demanded.

"They would just break out and escape if we imprisoned them." The man sighed. "And if we let them live, they would just kill others." He held up a photo and began shaking in grief.

"That's why... I even had to kill my own son."

The three mages and cat frowned at the photo. "Isn't that..."

"I guess that explains why he vanished." Gray muttered so that only his teammates would hear him. "I'm sure he can't rest easy in this state."

"I acknowledge your skill as mages." The chief bowed, followed by his villagers. "If this curse continues, everyone here will lose their souls and turn into demons."

"I won't let that happen." Natsu exclaimed, interrupting him.

"In that case, there is only one thing you can do..." The chief blinked back tears and pointed up at the sky. "Please destroy the moon!"

Lucy blinked. "What?"

Happy blinked. "The longer I stare at the moon, the creepier it seems." He commented, looking out of their hut's window.

Lucy sighed. "Happy, close that window. You heard what the mayor said. If we get too much moonlight we'll turn into demons as well."

"This is really troublesome." Natsu grumbled.

"Yeah.." Gray nodded. "There's no way we could destroy the moon."

Natsu clenched his fist. "I have no idea how many punches it'd take to destroy it."

"You're actually gonna try?" Gray's jaw dropped. "It's impossible to destroy the moon!"

"I have to agree." Lucy frowned. "I can't think of any spirit that could do it."

"But our job this time is to destroy it." Natsu countered. "We'll disgrace Fairy Tail if we don't."

"It's IMPOSSIBLE, flame head." Gray snapped. "First off, how would you even get to it?"

"With Happy."

"I can't do it."

"Destroying the moon is what the mayor, as the panicked victim, wants us to do." Lucy muttered, thinking. "There should be another, more realistic way to break the spell."

"Yeah, I wish there was." Gray yawned.

Natsu nodded and crashed down on the left mattress. "Fine, we'll explore the island tomorrow. Right now let's sleep!"

"Aye!"

"We'll think about it tomorrow..." Gray slurred, already half-asleep on the right mattress, as far away from Natsu as possible.

"I guess I get the middle." Lucy smiled, rubbing her eye. "Goodnight." She told her already sleeping companions as she lay down.

"Snore."

"Come to think of it, shouldn't I have my own room?" Lucy mused, then scowled as Gray shifted in his sleep. A kind smile lit up her face as she watched Gray hug her arm tightly.

"Snore."

"It's so early." Natsu whined, dragging his feet slowly.

"Yeah." Gray nodded, glaring at their leader. "Why are we up already?"

"Punishment." Lucy answered simply. "For Natsu snoring like a truck."

"What's a truck?"

"No idea."

"Hey!" Lucy yelled up at the gate guard. "We want to explore the island a little before we destroy the moon. Can you let us out?"

The man nodded and opened the gate. "Be careful out there. In the forest there's..." He blinked. "Oh. They're gone already."

In the forest, Lucy was resting her feet and listening to Gray and Natsu argue about moon-viewing steaks. She instantly decided she didn't want to know. "Hey, keep it down out

there! We don't know what might be around!"

"... She shouts anxiously." Horologium, her means of transport, added calmly.

Natsu frowned. "Why don't you walk on your own?"

"Don't question me, minions!... she orders gleefully." The clock spoke. "And our opponent is a curse, so I feel safer inside here... she adds cautiously."

"An S-rank job!" Natsu cheered. "I'm all fired up!"

"Yeah, I'll just freeze the curse or something." Gray added nonchalantly.

"You're really dumb... she sighs exasperatedly."

"Hey." Happy turned to the clock. "Let me in too!"

A series of dull 'thud' sounds filled the forest, causing the group to stop. Lucy's eyes widened when a huge mouse dressed in a frilly pink apron loomed over them.

"Kick that thing's ass!... she yells commandingly. Aye!... he adds cheerfully."

Gray frowned as the mouse began to snort. "It's gonna spit something out. Well, I'll just use my Ice Shield and-"

Lucy sighed as Gray and Natsu were buried in some unidentifiable substance. "Of course." She told herself, climbing out of the clock. "Lucy Heartfilia, cleanup on aisle three. Again."

She gave a sadistic grin when the mouse began charging towards her. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer, Gate of the Scorpion. Aquarius, Scorpio!" In a flash, the two romantically

involved spirits appeared.

"Scorpio, delay that thing for a moment!" The man nodded and shot a huge volume of sand at the rampaging mouse, causing it to stop and start thrashing blindly.

"There's no water here, bitch!" Aquarius sneered. "What the hell can I do here, huh?"

"Gray!" Lucy shouted in response. "Make something. Anything will do!" The boy nodded and slammed his hands together.

Lucy pointed towards the large statue of Gray in his boxers, trying to suppress her twitching eyebrow. "There." She snapped. "Melt that and you'll have all the water you need."

The water spirit sighed, then used her powers over water to hurl the huge thing at the mouse. Ice is frozen water, after all.

"Hey!" Gray protested. "That was a work of art!"

"Don't screw with me!" Aquarius shouted back.

Lucy gave a long sigh, before her gaze snapped towards a temple-like building. "Hey, there's something over there. Come on, you guys!" She turned to the two boys, dispelling her

spirits, and sweat-dropped. "What are you doing?"

"Beating it up while we can!" Gray responded, stomping repeatedly on the comatose rodent's face.

"Sure is roomy in here." Lucy breathed in, looking around the vast room. "I wonder when it was built."

Natsu pointed at a wall. "Hey, there's some weird moon-like marks over here."

"This island was originally called Moon Island." Gray stated.

Lucy frowned in thought. "Moon island, moon curse... moon-shaped marks... too much lunacy here." She elbowed Gray in the ribs. "Get it? Lunacy?"

Gray groaned at the lame pun.

"This place sure is old." Natsu eyed the floor carefully. "The floor looks like it could collapse any minute." Defying all logic and common sense, he then proceeded to stomp on it as hard as he could.

Lucy strode forward to cave his skull in, but the floor underneath them crumbled before she could reach him. She settled for sending him a death glare before they fell. Natsu burst out from a pile of rocks with a gasp. "Everyone ok?" He shouted, looking around the rubble.

Lucy frowned, trying to dislodge a piece of stone from Happy's throat. "Where are we anyway?"

Gray looked up at the small hole they fell through. "Looks like we're in some sort of basement."

"It's a secret cavern!" Natsu exclaimed. "Let's explore it!"

Lucy chucked the dislodged rock at him.

The Dragon Slayer barely took a few steps before he froze and his eyes bugged out. "Whoa..." Before him was a huge cavern with a giant demonic form encased in a huge block of clear ice.

Lucy stepped up next to him and her mouth fell open. "What the... what is that?" Beside them, Gray was starting to sweat.

"It's some kind of monster!" Natsu choked out.

"Deliora?" Gray shouted in disbelief.

Lucy and Natsu turned to him with puzzled looks.

"No way..." Gray continued. "How can Deliora be here?"

Natsu grit his teeth. "You know what that thing is?"

"Impossible!" Gray was freaking out. "It's impossible! It can't be here!"

Lucy laid a hand on his arm. "Calm down, Gray. Tell us, what is that thing?"

Gray was still shaken. "Deliora, a demon of misfortune and disaster. It hasn't changed at all..."

"Shh." Lucy shushed him suddenly. "Someone's coming. Everyone, behind that rock!"

A few moments later, two figures came into view. The shorter one looked fairly normal, except for very thick eyebrows. The second one was taller, shirtless, and gave off a lazy air by

keeping one hand in his pocket and scratching his stomach with the other. To top it all off, the collar around his neck and his facial features made him look remarkably like a dog.

"Are you sure you heard voices around here?" 'Eyebrows' asked.

"Oooooon." 'Dogface' moaned.

"Damn daytime..." 'Eyebrows muttered. "I feel so tired right now..."

"Oooon."

'Eyebrows' glanced at his partner. "Did you get affected by the Moon Drip or something?" He asked curiously. "You have pointy ears and stuff."

"I did not!" 'Dogface' yelled angrily. "This stuff is just for decoration and you know it!"

"Easy." 'Eyebrows' smirked. "I'm just teasing you."

'Dogface' calmed down. "Oooon."

Lucy frowned. "Moon Drip?" She whispered to herself. "Is that the curse?"

"Yuuka-san, Toby-san." A third voice, this one female, spoke. A teenage girl with curly pink hair came into view.

"Sherry-san."

"Ooooon."

The girl seemed bothered about something. "Angelica was beaten up by someone..."

"It's just a mouse!" 'Dogface', apparently called Toby, roared.

"She's not just a mouse!" Sherry protested. "Angelica is a fierce hunter that gallops the darkness... and love."

Lucy was shocked. "I didn't know someone can be this wrong in the head."

"They don't smell like the villagers... they're not from this island." Natsu observed. "And they don't seem affected by the curse. At least, the girl and Eyebrows don't."

"Intruders, huh..." Yuuka muttered. "What to do..."

"Moonlight will gather soon..." Sherry remarked, looking up at the frozen form of Deliora. "But how sad this is... we should dispose of them before the Zero Emperor finds out about them. Yes... before the moon is out again..."

Yuuka nodded. "I agree."

"Oooon."

"Because they've seen Deliora, they cannot be left alive." Yuuka stated solemnly.

"Eternal sleep to the intruders... in other words, love."

"Death! We'll kill them!" Toby exclaimed.

Once they were gone, the Fairy Tail mages eased out from behind the large rock. "So what now?" Natsu asked. "We should have just beaten some answers out of them."

"I don't get it." Gray muttered. "Why would they bring Deliora here? How did they even know where it was sealed?"

Lucy frowned. "Sealed?"

"It should be in an iceberg on the northern continent." Gray elaborated. "It's an immortal demon that rampaged through the northern areas 10 years ago... a devil that my magic teacher, Ur, gave her life to imprison!"

Lucy looked away with a tear ran down on her face.

"I don't know how its presence ties in with the curse, but this thing definitely shouldn't be here." Gray clenched his fists. "Just who exactly are you, Emperor Zero? I won't let you get away with disgracing Ur's name!"

Natsu scowled. "A devil that your teacher sealed?"

"Yeah." Gray sighed. "There's no doubt about it."

"So it was originally on the northern continent, but it got transported here?' Happy asked, staring up at the huge form. "Could the curse on this island be caused by its presence?" Natsu wondered.

"It's possible." Gray nodded. "Anyway, this thing is still alive."

"All right." Natsu grinned, swinging his arm around to warm up. "If that's the case, I'm gonna finish it off!"

Gray's eyes widened in shock before he slugged Natsu across the face, sending the boy flying back.

"What the hell, man?" Natsu shot up, clutching his bruised jaw.

"A flame mage isn't getting anywhere near this thing." Gray warned him. "If the ice melts and Deliora starts moving, nothing will be able to stop it."

"Is this ice so weak that I could melt it so easily?" Natsu shouted back.

"No..." Gray sighed. "Ur used a magic called 'Iced Shell' on this thing. This ice is unmeltable, even a master of flame magic wouldn't be able to do it. But I don't understand... if they know they can't melt it, why did they bring it out here?"

"Maybe they don't know it can't be melted and are trying to do it anyway." Happy suggested.

Gray thought that over. "It could be, but why? Why would they want to free this thing?"

Happy had no answer to that.

"This just doesn't add up." Gray frowned. "Who would bring that thing here and why?"

"The answer to that is easy." Natsu pointed to a nearby staircase. "We just go after them and find out."

"No." Lucy and Gray said in unison. "We're going to wait here."

"Until the moon rises." Gray nodded. "All of this is tied in to the moon somehow, even those guys said so."

"Well, I'm going after them!" Natsu shouted. "It's still daylight and I'm not going to sit here and do nothing!"

"Snore."

"He leads a very simple life, doesn't he?" Lucy sighed.

"Aye!"

Gray stared at the ice, deep in thought.

_"Gray." A woman with short black hair wearing a fur coat smirked. "My training is hard. Are you sure you can handle it?"_

_A small boy grinned and clenched his fists. "Of course! I can do anything!"_

He was brought out of his reverie when Lucy hug him tightly.

"Ur was a great person, Gray and she will always be in our hearts" Lucy whispered.

* * *

"I'm back!" Erza announced, carrying in yet another large horn. Everybody knew not to question it by now.

"Erza!" Mira ran towards her one-time rival. "We need your help! Natsu stole an S-rank mission to Galuna Island and Gray went to get him back, but I think he joined Natsu instead. We found the job offer in Lucy's apartment, so she must have gone after them! Please, go get them back!"

Laxus choked on his beer. _Wow, they STILL didn't catch on?_

Erza nodded solemnly. "Of course!" She threw the horn aside and run out of the guild.

* * *

A sound of crumbling filled the cavern. Lucy frowned and let go of Gray. Gray looked up at the ceiling, and Natsu shot up with an exclamation of 'Night time!'.

The ceiling caved in and a beam of purple light fell on the ice-encased demon.

"Purple light?" Gray shouted. "Is this the moonlight?"

"Let's go!" Lucy ordered them. "We have to find out where this light is coming from!"

"Right!" the boys chorused.

They followed the stairs until they reached the top of a nearby hill, where a bunch of cultists stood amongst some ruins and chanted something, focusing moonlight through a hole in the middle of the ruins.

"What the... they're really gathering moonlight?" Natsu was shocked. "And they're focusing it on Deliora? Why?"

"I don't know, but I know someone who might." Lucy frowned. "Open, Gate of the Southern Cross, Gate of the Harp. Crux, Lyra!"

"You two are my most knowledgeable spirits." Lucy told the cross-like figure and the green-clad woman. "What do you make of this?"

"It's a spell in the forgotten language of Beria." Lyra frowned, staring at the cultists thoughtfully. "It's called Moon Drip. Shortly put, the magic of Moon Drip is the ultimate dispel magic. The magical power of the moon gathered in one place has the power to break any sort of spell."

"No way..." Happy choked out.

"Those fools!" Gray was trembling. "Don't they realize what they're doing?"

"Whatever is causing the curse on the village people is most likely because of this." Lucy muttered, frowning in thought. "If the moon's magical power is so strong, it's likely to be able of contaminating the human body."

"Quiet." Gray shushed them. "Someone's coming."

A tall figure wearing an elaborate helmet strode into the ruins, followed by Yuuka and Toby.

"Bad news, Lord Emperor Zero." Sherry said, walking forward towards the man. "We had some intruders during the daytime, and we let them get away. I'm too depressed to think of love..."

"Still creepy as hell." Lucy muttered.

"Intruders..." The masked figure sighed. "What of Deliora. Is it revived yet?"

"We're close." Yuuka told him. "Most likely today or tomorrow."

"Good." The man smiled. "About the intruders... I don't want any interruptions. The only humans besides us reside in the village on the far end of the island." He motioned towards the village. "Go and obliterate it."

"Yes, sir!" Yuuka, Toby, and Sherry bowed. "Of course!"

"They have nothing to do with this!" Natsu whispered furiously. "Any ideas on what to do? Gray?"

The ice mage and red head was staring at Zero with horror on his face. "That voice... it's impossible. Tell me it's not true!"

"I'm tired of all this sneaking around!" Natsu shot out of their hiding space and spat out a gust of flame. "We're going to stop you!"

Lucy sighed. "Happy's out of the bag now. Open, Gate of the Chisel, Caelum!" A second later, two familiar swords rested in her hands.

"That mark!" Sherry's eyes widened. "Fairy Tail?"

"I see." Yuuka muttered thoughtfully. "The townspeople must have hired a guild to help them."

"What are you three doing?" Emperor Zero frowned under his mask. "Stop loitering. Go and destroy that village! Anyone who gets in our way is our enemy!"

"You bastard!" Gray surged forward, smashing his fist into his palm. "Stop this ritual now!" He commanded, sending a volley of ice spikes at Zero.

The man grunted and smashed a single hand into the ground, creating a series of ice columns that crashed into Gray's and stopped them.

"He uses ice too?" Happy asked, shocked.

"Leon." Gray spat. "Do you know what you're doing?"

Natsu sent him a look of surprise.

"Heh." Zero chuckled. "It's been a while, Gray."

"What are you doing here?"

Leon smiled. "I never thought you'd be the one sent here to stop me. I wonder if this is fate or a simple coincidence. Well, I guess it doesn't matter anyway..." He turned to his

subordinates. "Hurry up and go. I can take care of him myself."

"Yes, sir!"

"Like hell I'll let you!" Natsu shouted, running after them. Leon sighed and locked Natsu in a gust of freezing winds.

"I suggest you go to the village and hide, Happy." Lucy instructed the cat, hanging back and observing the situation warily. "We'll catch up to you soon, now go."

Happy gave a determined grin. "Aye!" He nodded and flew away, fighting back tears. Leon looked up at him and Gray used the distraction to attack again, causing the man too hurriedly dodge.

"Shit!" Natsu cursed as his torso and most of his limbs froze in a sphere of ice. "I can't move!"

"But with all of you here, who's going to fight against Sherry and the others? That cat?" Leon smirked.

"Don't underestimate him!" Natsu shouted, still almost completely encased in ice. He gave another yell, this time of shock, when Lucy casually kicked him off the ruins and down into the forest. "I trust you can handle this guy, Gray and be careful." Lucy eyed the ice mage sternly. "I hate cleaning up after people. See ya!" And she jumped down after Natsu.

"That was the ice magic that could destroy the body along with the ice, wasn't it?" Gray asked.

"I see, you recognized it. The girl is indeed clever, if she was suspicious of it enough to do that to him. Or maybe you told her about me beforehand?"

"I didn't even know it was you doing this." Gray spoke through gritted teeth. "And stop acting like you're my senior. You're not Ur's student anymore, Leon."

"Neither are you." Leon smirked, slowly taking his helmet off. "After all, Ur isn't alive anymore."

"She gave her life to seal Deliora away!" Gray shouted. "You're destroying Ur's work with what you're doing here!"

"Don't kid yourself." A young man with spiky white hair and stoic expression looked at him. "You killed Ur. Didn't you, Gray?"

The boy was frozen in shock.

"How can you live with yourself knowing that?"

"I'll get her for this somehow!" Natsu grunted, trying and failing to melt the ice he was encased in. "What's with this ice anyway? I can't melt it!"

He sighed and took off towards the village at an awkward run. "Whatever, I don't have time for this! I need to get to the village right away! Dammit, it's hard to run like this!"

* * *

A shaking pirate wearing heart-print boxers turned towards his tormentor cautiously. "Why are we heading for Galuna Island anyway?"

"Shut up and navigate!"

"Eeek!"

"Pardon me, mistress." Another, barely conscious man, grunted from his position on the deck. "Galuna island is cursed... I heard rumors that humans turn into demons there..."

"I don't care!" Erza snapped. "I have someone to punish. That's all there is to it."

"You sure are harsh, aren't you?" A second woman observed in amusement.

Erza's gaze snapped to her. "All you've told me is that you're a friend of Lucy. I need more information than that, otherwise..." She left the threat unspoken.

"Oh my, how scary." The girl giggled. "But yeah, sure. I met Lucy about a month ago as an enemy and got the crap beaten out of me quite thoroughly. I'm a Celestial Wizard, but after my fight with her, she ended up forcing me at key-point to give her the keys I used in battle against her." She held up a key-ring with about two dozen silver keys. "It still left me with a shitload of silver ones, so I'm not complaining. After that, instead of turning me in, she hired me to spy on Dark Guilds for her. So you see, instead of taking all my keys and turning me in to a possible life-time in prison, she only took four of my keys and gave me a quite well-paid job."

Erza frowned. "That sounds like Lucy, being practical like that. I still need a name though."

"Aw, I don't have a name." The girl gave a wide smile. "Lucy just calls me Angel."

* * *

plz R&R


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